New public policy research and knowledge exchange academic network launched

Cardiff University is a key partner in a new network that promotes knowledge exchange between leading researchers and senior policy makers from across the UK and Ireland.

PolicyWISE is led by The Open University (OU) and works with researchers from Cardiff University, Trinity College Dublin, Queen’s University Belfast, The University of Edinburgh and University College London to enable governments in all five countries to learn from each other’s approaches to pressing policy challenges.

An initial series of workshops with policymakers and academics from across the nations has already explored approaches to tackling violence against women and girls; improving mental health; post-Covid educational inequalities; children and young people's health and net zero.

Professor Steve Martin, Director of the Wales Centre for Public Policy at Cardiff University, said: “The economic and social challenges that we’re all facing mean that it is vital to ensure that relevant and robust research is at the heart of decision-making. By bringing together experts from across the UK and Ireland, PolicyWISE can provide governments with important evidence about what works in tackling Covid recovery, the cost of living crisis, climate change and a host of policy issues.”

Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, Professor Tim Blackman, said: “PolicyWISE will bring together policy makers and policy influencers from the four nations of the UK and Ireland to examine key societal challenges post-devolution and post-Brexit. As public policy creation becomes more diverged, PolicyWISE will give people the opportunity to gather insights, key learnings and best practice from across the nations.”