Table 4 Themes identified by stakeholders as important for informing recommendations and implementation
Themes | Factors | Potential next steps |
|---|---|---|
Build on existing strengths, resources and good practice | Capitalize on (i) new and ongoing collaborations, (ii) existing collaboration platform, (iii) recent COVID-19 work that has helped unlock benefits of sharing knowledge and skills across organizations | Explore ways to share skills, resources and good practice Link stakeholders internally Move from ad hoc to more systematic and embedded relationships and research arrangements Celebrate and share successes |
Training and building capacity for research | Focus on (i) working across departments and with universities; (ii) using and extending existing models currently operating within some departments | Identifying and implementing a range of training models, e.g. secondments, apprenticeships, champions, internships, professional development programmes Engaging staff with responsibilities for promoting and facilitating research and partnerships |
Strengthening networks across departments and with external partners | (i) Balancing Council needs for knowledge that cannot be met internally with what works for a university, educationally, professionally and financially (ii) Moving from informal connections and isolated projects to systemized and enduring relationships and activities (iii) Increasing requirements for universities to show impact offers opportunities for applied research | Build relationships and identify mutual benefits Develop a framework to facilitate research, collaboration and capacity-building Develop a knowledge hub to facilitate sharing or knowledge and resources |
Alignment of research activities with the strategic short-, medium- and longer-term needs | (i) Interest in exploring key issues the County faces, and potential for innovative projects and joined-up thinking that could draw on non-typical resources to find interventions to address these needs (ii) Coproduction is increasingly valued and required | Identify a handful of projects that can be used to help formulate a structured approach to identify short-, medium- and long-term research priorities for the Council |