PolicyWISE partnership with flagship Open University research programme

PolicyWISE works in collaboration with The Open University’s Open Societal Challenges (OSC) Programme to support research teams to mature their ideas in tackling some of the key societal challenges of our time within the three themes of sustainability, tackling inequalities, and living well. The Open Societal Challenges Programme and PolicyWISE have signed a Collaboration Charter to further drive policy impact and engagement from Open University (and wider) research.

This partnership includes the identification of research expertise within and across the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland, enhance knowledge exchange activities, provide expert policy advice, training, and contribute to research funding bids.

The Open Societal Challenges Programme and PolicyWISE share key strategic goals to:

• Drive impact generated from OU research, specifically in the policy space,
• Promote engagement with OU research that aims to affect policy,
• Engage across all nations on research and policy,
• Enhance knowledge exchange activities across the UK and Ireland,
• Development of OU research expertise relevant to PW mission.

Collaboration between these two programmes is in recognition that the Open Societal Challenges and PolicyWISE teams can benefit from each other’s expertise in comparative policy, relationships with policymakers across the UK and Ireland, and academic research at the OU.

PolicyWISE will provide training sessions in policymaker influencing, devolved UK context and research-policy engagement for Open Societal Challenges academics.

For more information contact policywise@open.ac.uk