This guide for researchers in socio-economic sciences and humanities provides help in creating policy briefs, project websites, flyers and brochures. It offers insights into dealing with the press and contains suggestions on how to organise a final project conference. The aim is to “build a functional communications interface between researchers and policymakers.” The key topics […]

This handbook presents communication tools grouped under the headings of planning, packaging, targeting and monitoring tools. Tools include problem tree analysis, visioning scenarios, blogging and outcome mapping. The tools are specifically geared towards the needs of researchers in civil society organisations. They are a product of the work of the Overseas Development Institute’s Research and […]

In this classic introduction to framing, Lakoff argues that: “Frames are mental structures that shape the way we see the world. As a result they shape the goals we seek, the plans we make, the way we act, and what counts as a good or bad outcome of our actions. In politics our frames shape […]

Metaphors help people “understand the unfamiliar” and “make someone realise they’ve only been looking at one side of a thing.” Metaphors assist in closing “the gap in people’s ability to grasp something, or speed up what they’re already on track to see.” Designing metaphors involves generating multiple possible comparisons to find those that work well. […]

The RAPID Outcome Mapping Approach (ROMA), “comprises a suite of tools that any organisation can use at any stage in their policy engagement process to improve how they diagnose the problem, understand the types of impact their work could have on policy-making, set realistic objectives for policy influence, develop a plan to achieve those objectives, […]

This resource presents “…core skills of effective writing, how to write for scientific publication, and how to write for advocacy. Writing for Change will enhance your capacity to write in ways that promote action from your target audience. It is full of practical exercises and examples from the field of international development. A resource centre […]