TY - JOUR
T1 - Co-production in local government
T2 - process, codification and capacity building of new knowledge in collective reflection spaces. Workshops findings from a UK mixed methods study
AU - van der Graaf, Peter
AU - Cheetham, Mandy
AU - Redgate, Samantha
AU - Humble, Clare
AU - Adamson, Ashley
N1 - Funding Information: AA conceived the idea for the study, developed the study design and sought funding from the Health Foundation, with input from all authors and CIs. Data collection and analysis were undertaken by AA, MC, SR, CH and PvdG. Data interpretation was supported by all authors. The paper was drafted by PvdG and was commented on by all authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
PY - 2021/12/1
Y1 - 2021/12/1
N2 - BACKGROUND: Co-production of research evidence is valued by local government to improve effective decision-making about public services in times of austerity. However, underlying structural issues of power (so-called 'dark shadows of co-production') challenge this ambition with limited evidence on how to embed research use sustainably. In this paper we reflect on mechanisms for increasing co-production in local government.METHODS: This paper presents findings from a Health Foundation funded research project that explored how a culture of evidence use to improve population health could be embedded in UK local government. Five linked work packages were undertaken using mixed methods. In this paper, we report the views of UK local authority staff who participated in four workshops (n = 54), informed by a rapid literature review and an online scoping survey.RESULTS: We identified five themes that facilitate public health evidence use in local government: (1) new governance arrangements to integrate national and local policies, (2) codifying research evidence through local system-wide approaches and (3) ongoing evaluation of programmes, and (4) overcoming political and cultural barriers by increasing absorptive capacity of Local Authorities to embed co-produced knowledge in their cognitive structures. This requires adaptive governance through relationship building between academic researchers and Local Authority staff and shared understanding of fragmented local policy making, which are supported by (5) collective spaces for reflection within local government.CONCLUSIONS: Creating collective spaces for reflection in between government departments allows for iterative, interactive processes of co-production with external partners that support emergence of new governance structures to socially action the co-produced knowledge in context and build capacity for sustained evidence use.
AB - BACKGROUND: Co-production of research evidence is valued by local government to improve effective decision-making about public services in times of austerity. However, underlying structural issues of power (so-called 'dark shadows of co-production') challenge this ambition with limited evidence on how to embed research use sustainably. In this paper we reflect on mechanisms for increasing co-production in local government.METHODS: This paper presents findings from a Health Foundation funded research project that explored how a culture of evidence use to improve population health could be embedded in UK local government. Five linked work packages were undertaken using mixed methods. In this paper, we report the views of UK local authority staff who participated in four workshops (n = 54), informed by a rapid literature review and an online scoping survey.RESULTS: We identified five themes that facilitate public health evidence use in local government: (1) new governance arrangements to integrate national and local policies, (2) codifying research evidence through local system-wide approaches and (3) ongoing evaluation of programmes, and (4) overcoming political and cultural barriers by increasing absorptive capacity of Local Authorities to embed co-produced knowledge in their cognitive structures. This requires adaptive governance through relationship building between academic researchers and Local Authority staff and shared understanding of fragmented local policy making, which are supported by (5) collective spaces for reflection within local government.CONCLUSIONS: Creating collective spaces for reflection in between government departments allows for iterative, interactive processes of co-production with external partners that support emergence of new governance structures to socially action the co-produced knowledge in context and build capacity for sustained evidence use.
KW - Co-production
KW - Embedded research
KW - Knowledge brokering
KW - Public health
KW - Translational research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100113351&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12961-021-00677-2
DO - 10.1186/s12961-021-00677-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 33514382
SN - 1478-4505
VL - 19
JO - Health Research Policy and Systems
JF - Health Research Policy and Systems
IS - 1
M1 - 12
ER -
