We are inviting all our accepted speakers and poster presenters to please prepare their manuscripts in preparation for submission by 17 October 2025.
We would like to thank you once again for your valuable contribution to the Engaged Research Conference. We are pleased to invite you to submit a full paper based on your accepted abstract for consideration in Policy Design and Practice, a Taylor & Francis journal.
Please prepare your manuscript in line with the journal’s author guidelines and upload your paper through the HSRC submission portal.
We look forward to receiving your submission.
Kind regards,
Engaged Research Team
From evidence to influence: The policy dimensions of engaged research
By Yoliswa Sikhosana
The first blog in this series explored the power of working with communities to create research that matters. The second focused on people and partnerships as the foundation of engaged research. This next conversation looks at where that journey can lead; into the policy spaces where knowledge meets power, and where evidence can influence the decisions that shape our everyday lives.
At its core, the policy dimension of engaged research is about connection; the connection between what we learn through collaborative research and how that knowledge is translated into tangible change. Policy doesn’t emerge in a vacuum; it is shaped by the voices, relationships, and insights that feed into it. Engaged research offers a way to ensure that those voices include the communities and stakeholders who live the realities that policies seek to address.
When researchers work alongside policymakers from the outset, evidence can be co-produced with an understanding of political and social context. This shifts the dynamic from researchers presenting findings to decision-makers, to working with them to generate knowledge that responds to shared priorities. It’s a process that values dialogue over data-dumping, and influence through trust rather than authority.
Within the Engaged Research Project, this theme invites reflection on how such relationships are built and sustained. It recognises that influencing policy isn’t about lobbying or persuasion alone, it’s about cultivating spaces where evidence is credible, relevant, and grounded in the realities of people’s lives. The goal is not to claim ownership over outcomes, but to open up possibilities for policy that is informed by genuine engagement and co-creation.
Doing this work well takes time, patience, and institutional support. It requires rethinking how engagement is valued within research careers, how funding streams enable collaboration, and how evidence is communicated in accessible and inclusive ways. The ER project continues to explore these questions, acknowledging that the bridge between research and policy is still under construction, and that the process of building it is just as important as the outcomes it may produce.
Ultimately, the promise of policy-engaged research lies in its potential to make knowledge matter where it counts most: in decisions that affect people’s lives. By connecting evidence with policymaking in thoughtful and participatory ways, engaged research can help move us closer to a society where policies are not just informed by data, but shaped through dialogue, reciprocity, and shared understanding.
Impactful community partnerships
By Nonkululeko Dlamini
As part of our ongoing blog series, we are unpacking the Engaged Research Conference’s main themes. We move on to the second theme, Impactful Community Partnerships, and turn our attention to research that goes beyond collaboration to show what happens when partnerships are built on trust, reciprocity, and shared purpose.
Leading the way in community engaged research is the HSRC’s Centre for Community-Based Research (CCBR), which places collaboration and partnerships at the heart of its work. By ensuring that research is not only conducted in communities but also with communities, the CCBR has been able to deliver projects that are both impactful and sustainable.
A pioneer in implementation
On the research front, the CCBR has pioneered implementation studies such as Do PrEP, SMART ART, and BIYELA, these projects brought services closer to where people live, used trained community health workers, and designed care in ways that respect local culture and reduce stigma. By making healthcare more practical, local, and patient-friendly, CCBR has helped more people start and stay on treatment, while also generating evidence-based research to guide national health policies. These interventions have improved health outcomes while making services more accessible and acceptable to locals.
Collaboration and partnership are central to this effort. CCBR works directly with community members, providing training for local fieldworkers, supporting grassroots projects, and creating opportunities for employment and skills development. At the same time, it partners with government, non-governmental organisations, and health systems to ensure that research findings are translated into practice and policy. This creates mutual benefit where communities gain improved services, capacity, and empowerment, while researchers gain deeper insights and stronger evidence for scalable interventions.
Through its sustained presence and dedication to co-creation, the CCBR has demonstrated how partnerships based on mutual respect, trust, and shared goals can transform both science and society. Its work continues to set an example for how engaged research can bridge scientific knowledge and lived experience, building stronger and healthier communities.