A new report published by UCFL’s Policy Advisor, Wendy Ayres-Bennett, presents key insights into the potential for policy engagement in languages research and offers guidance and recommendations for collaboration between academics and policymakers. The report is the result of a workshop at the Institute for Languages, Cultures and Societies in October 2023 and looks at both challenges and opportunities for policy engagement.
Section 1 of the report sets out the current situation regarding collaboration. In section 2 the breadth of research in languages, societies and cultures is presented, with many academics having expertise and research-informed evidence to offer across a wide range of key issues and government portfolios. Section 3 discusses the different ways of working of academics and civil servants and other obstacles to effective collaboration. Section 4 underlines the importance of the published Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) for understanding the main research questions facing government departments, while Section 5 presents some of the key ways to engage with the UK and devolved parliaments. Section 6 lists the funding opportunities and training available for academics wishing to embark on policy engagement with their research. Finally, Section 7 considers how the different sectors might come together to promote the value of languages more generally across society.