Developing implementation across the What Works network

Project status Active

Building on our work to increase the impact of the What Works network across the UK, the Wales Centre for Public Policy has won funding from the ESRC to work with Professor Jonathan Sharples at EEF and other What Works Centres to apply the latest thinking and evidence on implementation – how evidence is used in decision making – to the What Works network.

What Works Centres face similar challenges on implementation, and the principles, evidence and strategies that underpin effective implementation are often transferrable across different fields. The project will begin developing a common infrastructure for implementation across the network, including shared language, models, guidance, tools and capacity.

Through this project, we hope to achieve the following:

  • Stronger understanding of implementation and improvement science and how it relates to Centres’ work.
  • Transferable knowledge and strategies between Centres, facilitated by that shared understanding.
  • Practical tools and resources created that can support Centres’ own implementation work and that of their users.
  • Greater productivity and evidence-informed decision-making as a result of improved implementation practices and processes.
  • Foundations for joint working for further collaboration, including joint implementation projects e.g. on cross-cutting themes.

To find out more about this project, please contact Emma Taylor-Collins, Senior Research Officer at Wales Centre for Public Policy.