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Critical Perspectives

  • Kara Finnigan: The Political and Social Contexts of Research Evidence Use in Partnerships
  • Ruth Stewart et al.: Transforming evidence for policy: do we have the evidence generation house in order?
  • Mark Rickinson and Marcia McKenzie: Understanding the research-policy relationship in ESE: insights from the critical policy and evidence use literatures
  • David E. Kirkland: No Small Matters: Reimagining the Use of Research Evidence From A Racial Justice Perspective
  • Caitlin Farrell, et al.: Conceptions and Practices of Equity in Research-Practice Partnerships
  • Fabienne Doucet: Centering the Margins: (Re)defining Useful Research Evidence Through Critical Perspectives
  • Karen Bogenschneider: Engaging Policymakers: A New Era of Research and Theory That Builds on the Basics

Methodological Perspectives

  • Itzhak Yanovitzky: Why Should We Study the Use of Research Evidence as a Behavior?
  • Mark Rickinson, et al.: Using Research Well: A Framework for Understanding Quality Use of Research Evidence
  • William Penuel and Anna-Ruth Allen: To Study Conceptual Use of Research, Consider Tradeoffs Among Methods
  • Zachary P. Neal et al.: Just Google it: measuring schools’ use of research evidence with internet search results
  • Jennifer Lawlor, et al.: Approaches to measuring use of research evidence in K-12 settings: A systematic review
  • Drew Gitomer and Kevin Crouse: Studying the Use of Research Evidence: A Review of Methods
  • Barbara Davidson, Julie Greenberg, and Susan Pimental: Avoiding Confirmation Bias When Implementing Evidence-Based Instructional Practices
  • Max Crowley and Taylor Scott: Congressional Use of Evidence Can Be Improved: Reflections from a Trial of the Research-to-Policy Collaboration Model
  • Karen Bogenschneider: Fresh Insights on Measuring Research Use: Policymaker Perspectives on How Theory Falls Short
  • Lorraine McDonnell and Stephen Weatherford: Expanding the Definition of Evidence in Studies on the Use of Research Evidence in Policy
  • Drew Gitomer and Kevin Crouse: Studying the Use of Research Evidence: A Review of Methods

Historical and Current Concepts

  • Vivian Tseng and Cynthia Coburn: Using Evidence in the US
  • Vivian Tseng: Research on Research Use: Building Theory, Empirical Evidence, and a Global Field (WT Grant Digest, Issue 7)
  • Larry V. Hedges: Challenges in building usable knowledge in education
  • Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple, Kathryn Oliver and Annette Boaz: Mapping the community: use of research evidence in policy and practice
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Mark Rickinson and Marcia McKenzie: Understanding the research-policy relationship in ESE: insights from the critical policy and evidence use literatures

This paper looks beyond the environmental and sustainability education (ESE) field for ideas on understanding the research-policy relationship. It examines two specific bodies of literature that have analysed the interplay of research and policy in different ways – critical policy studies and evidence use studies. Bringing these two literatures into conversation, we draw out insights in relation to: what counts as evidence in policy decision-making, what influences policy processes beyond evidence, and what roles research can play in relation to policy making. We then consider how these issues from beyond the field might advance research and policy in ESE. We argue that ESE policy is distinctive in its scale, breadth and contestation, and that there is a need for more diverse work in relation to the ESE research-policy interface.

Citation: Rickinson, M., & McKenzie, M. (in press). Understanding the research-policy relationship in ESE: insights from the critical policy and evidence use literatures. Environmental Education Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2020.1804531

environmental education, ESE, policymaking, research-policy relationships