5.2 Overcoming barriers

A good response to research barriers within policy-making circles would be to include building relationships that are based on both expertise and mutual respect.

Researchers must focus on building expertise as well as sharing research through networking and partnerships. Building relationships between researchers and policy-makers must go hand-in-hand with gathering research evidence. Strong relationships will lead to language being used that everyone can understand, as well as productive partnerships. They might even improve academic responsiveness, and lead to better and more usable results (Fourie, 2017).

The UN’s 2030 Agenda emphasises the importance of creating partnerships. It is now understood that the use of research evidence in the implementation of development goals isn’t merely a technical process.