Science – policy interaction spaces: experiences of government officials and social scientists

By Taran Thune1, Magnus Gulbransen1, Erlend Osland Simensen1 and Ingvild Reymert2 1) TIK Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo, Norway 2) Institute for Social Research, Norway This paper seeks to provide a fresh perspective on knowledge exchange between science and policy, by combining analyses of survey-data from both academics and government officials. As point of departure, we assume that knowledge exchange between academics and policy makers is an interactive process involving different activities and different stakeholders with different preconditions and interests in interaction, which shapes the interaction experience and outcomes. Further, we argue that it is important to understand the interaction process and the context or spaces in which the interaction occurs – from both the academic and government officials’ side. We thus ask what are the differences and similarities between the characteristics and interaction experiences of academics and civil servants involved in their knowledge exchange? We draw on literature on universities and knowledge exchange, but we also incorporate perspectives and findings from research within public administration that addresses knowledge needs. More specifically, we rely on literature on knowledge sourcing, and how public organizations use scientific knowledge in policy formation and decision-making. By bridging these two strands of literatures, the aim is to make two contributions. First, we want to contribute with new insights on to the literature on knowledge exchange by bringing closer attention to the user side of this exchange, and investigating public sector organizations rather than firms which relation has been less explored. Second, we contribute to the literature by taking a two-sided perspective, and address how knowledge exchange is seen and experienced from both the producers and users of knowledge. This allows for an analytical comparison of different aspects of knowledge exchange highlighting the distinct contexts of the two. Empirically we draw on two surveys carried out in Norway in 2014 and 2019. The first investigated academics’ participation in different forms of knowledge exchange activities, including government officials (state level), other public organizations and health care organizations and firms. The survey included academics from multiple disciplines. The second survey investigated civil servants - employees in ministries and selected national agencies. From this survey, we draw on data about the extent of interaction with academic research, aiming to explain whom are more frequently involved in such activities, as well as the channels used to obtain access to such knowledge. In both cases, we compare academics and government officials that more frequently than their “peers” participate in knowledge exchange. We also compare the two selected groups’ experiences of channels or mechanisms of exchange, to assess whether there is a match or mismatch in the assessments of valuable ways of communicating scientific knowledge to policy. In sum, this provides an opportunity to portray the interaction space involving these two groups and thereby to give new insights into the roles of research in policymaking.