Case studies

Walcott Communications was commissioned to assess whether there was value in maintaining virtual research centre in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law.

 

Employing a mixture of qualitative interviewing and desk-based research, Walcott Communications produced a report recommending the institute be dissolved and replaced with a more inclusive structure that better represented the breadth of excellent social policy research at the university.

 

The report was well-received and an internal working group was set up to take forward the recommendations. As a result, Policy Bristol was launched to support the communication of the University of Bristol’s policy-relevant research.

Walcott Communications in partnership with associate, Nicola Mitchell, was invited to assist Northumbria University to initiate what was at the time one of the first university-wide research impact strategies in the UK.

 

Working closely with members of the senior team, we designed and facilitated a series of workshops to explore the university’s ambitions and the challenges it faced in attempting to embed impact in its research activities. Recognising that research impact is essentially culture change, we involved groups at all levels of the university to gain an understanding of what was needed.

 

The University of Northumbria's impact strategy now informs individual faculty and central support implementation plans.

RCUK commissioned Walcott Communications to design, research and write 60 case studies that illustrated how researchers across its diverse research base are approaching and realising Pathways to Impact.

 

The bank of case studies on the RCUK website is a resource for those who are thinking about writing a Pathways to Impact statement. It provides top tips, ideas, inspiration and advice from experienced researchers.

 

“Walcott Communications has helped RCUK to create a unique resource for the research community. It was a challenging task but working with Saskia was an easy experience as she understood what we needed, but also what the researchers required from the process. The end result speaks for itself.”Alexandra Saxon, Head of Communications, RCUK

Walcott Communications organised a successful dissemination event for the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Essex to raise awareness of the team’s research to a national policy-orientated audience.

 

The research team wanted to engage with policy makers and organisations in the third sector but did not have the right established contacts. Working closely with the in-house communications manager, Walcott Communications planned a dissemination event in central London, creating a highly targeted guest list bringing together some of leading commentators on breastfeeding and created plain-English research summaries for the audience.

 

As a result the research team established an important policy contact and opened dialogue with influential and relevant third sector organisations.