In our 12th episode, Katia Halabi and Raji Jayaraman explain and discuss research-practice partnerships (RPPs) and share their experiences. Katia is a practitioner and head of the TVET (technical and vocational education and training) component of a project commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Rwanda with co-funding by the European Union. Raji is a researcher and professor of economics at ESMT Berlin as well as the co-director of the Forward Society Lab. We explore the characteristics of RPPs, and how such a partnership is implemented in an ongoing project in Rwanda. We delve into the role of quantitative data and rigorous evidence in policymaking and of course discuss how this is linked to financing impact with taxpayers’ money.
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(01:24) – Raji and Katia introduce themselves
(02:11) – Raji explains what a research-practice partnership (RPP) is
(02:47) – The role of rigorous evidence to inform policy decisions
(03:44) – Katia shares her motivation as a practitioner to engage in an RPP
(05:00) – The matchmaking exercises that brough practitioners and researchers together
(07:22) - Katia explains the context of the project she is working on in Rwanda
(09:43) – Raji explains what is evaluated in this RPP: whether training makes a difference for both teachers’ pedagogy as well as students’ learning outcomes
(10:37) - The role of randomization to generate rigorous evidence
(12:56) - Katia describes the motivation of the Rwanda government to learn from the RPP
(14:32) – Raji on the necessity for research to speak to concerns of citizens and marginalized communities
(17:36) – Katia on why the use of taxpayers’ money should be evaluated
(21:09) – Raji shares examples of things that cannot be evaluated through an RCT (randomized control trial)
(23:47) – Success factors for collaboration between researchers and practitioners
(29:04) – What happens after an RPP
(32:35) – Differences between countries when it comes to research informing policy
(35:32) – RPPs are not exclusive to development cooperation
(36:43) – The role of AI for research
Contact
For feedback on the show or to suggest guests for future episodes, contact us at scifi@esmt.org
