PLAAS researchers have engaged with policy processes since 1995, working closely with various government departments, as advisors at national or provincial level, as consultants in designing programme or project facilitation, as reviewers or evaluators, and as facilitators of policy workshops.  Researchers have also provided critiques of different policies, publishing articles and academic papers, participating in public debates, and making presentations at policy-oriented workshops and conferences. In recent years PLAAS staff has been active within a number of emerging civil society alliances in the land reform sector, and have contributed to deepening understanding of key policy issues among NGOs and CBOs. (See the policy engagement archive for more information about the earlier days).

Since 2007, supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies foundation, our programme of focused policy dialogue activities and interventions have sought to add more coherence and learning to our policy engagement practices.  Our approach to policy influence is targeted to work through four domains:

1. research dissemination through publications, events, media & social media engagements;
2. cultivating trusting and critical partnerships with key decision makers in governments and non-governmental donor agencies;
   
3. public participation in policy debate, working with organisations representing particular interest groups, and citizens in general;
4. developing a broader framework of learning from our practice and exploring exisiting theories and ‘models in use’ of policy engagement.
   

In the wake of the recent release of the Green Paper on Land Reform by Minister Nkwinti, PLAAS has called for a constructive national dialogue about the future of the rural areas, and the role of land reform in this crucial process. As a contribution to this process PLAAS has hosted a public dialogue with key stakeholders from rural civil society, academia and the private sector to formulate proposals for a new White Paper on Land Reform.

The Summary Report on the Public Dialogue: ‘Beyond populism or paralysis: a real debate on South Africa’s land reform trajectory’ that was held in Cape Town on 24 October 2011, PLAAS’s Public Statement on the Land Reform Green Paper and our Submission to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform: Comments on the Green Paper on Land Reform 2011  are available at the shown link and on  UmhlabaNet, where you can join a discussion on land reform and rural development policymaking in South Africa. PLAAS Researchers are now critically participating in the National Reference Groups (NAREG) set up to inform Green Paper processes.

Read more about our policy engagement on land reform and rural development ...

 

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UmhlabaNet

One of the outcomes of the vibrant discussions that took place at the Public Dialogue on 24 October was acknowledgement of a shared need to engage more in this kind of discussion, and take the engagement beyond the submission date for the Green Paper (currently at 25 November 2011). An online group, called   was set up directly after the session to draw in different perspectives from actors involved at different levels of rural society who share a common concern wanting land reform in South Africa to work, but seeing little encouraging progress being made in current proposals for policy frameworks that can help enable this.  PLAAS set up      group to facilitate networking, information sharing and collaboration around responses to the Green Paper on Land Reform. We hope that this can be the kernel for more wide‑ranging information sharing, debate and discussion around the broader issues related to promoting social justice, social equity and transformation in our rural areas. Although PLAAS has taken the lead in creating this platform, we hope that this can become a jointly owned and shared collaborative space ‑ and that it helps us as University-based researchers become more effectively connected to debates and discussions in broader civil society.

Join the discussion on     (you will need to enter your email address to join the discussion).

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International symposium, September 2012: Policy & research dialogue in the real world: Learning from practice
PLAAS plans to host an international conference on the real world of the research-policymaking nexus. The conference will focus on the complex, messy, often off-stage processes whereby researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders interact in the real world of policymaking and applied research, and on how these interactions shape both policy and research.

The conference is aimed at exploring innovative approaches and learning lessons of experience in the engagements between policy and research. This conference will bring together a wide range of social actors who generate, use and broker policy-relevant information. The symposium will draw on the experience of researchers, information workers and communications experts, policy makers and other practitioners in civil society and the private sector to share experiences with different models of interaction, develop frameworks for understanding what we are doing, and consolidate what has been learnt from practicing research and policy dialogue.

More information about the symposium will follow soon!