Practice panel

Purpose and objectives

The Practice SIG facilitates an ongoing dialogue with researchers and practitioners about connections and challenges between research, policy and practice through conference papers, publications and special events. Public management research themes require the insights of practitioners and managers in the public sector, either by providing information (documents, interviews, surveys) or by direct involvement in research projects (joint sponsors, designers, funders).

At a time when public management is looking for innovative solutions in policy and practice to address the complex challenges which are constantly emerging, major disconnects between academic policy research and its implementation in public management remain widely recognized.

The Practice Panel promotes engagement and mutual learning to bridge the divide between public management researchers and practitioners, all of whom are attempting to develop better methods for tacking difficult challenges in a rapidly changing context of fiscal constraint and political instability. Established in 2008 and present at every subsequent IRSPM, this SIG has continued to grow and change in response to annual IRSPM conference themes. Our Panel attracts approximately 14 papers per conference and usually has 3-4 conference panel slots.

Key dialogues, presentations and outputs

The Practice Panel aims to bring together practitioners and academics around papers that describe successful collaboration across the research/practice divide or explore the factors that impede or facilitate fruitful knowledge-sharing and suggest ways these factors might be addressed.

SIG chairs and regular panel contributors organize regular, independent research dialogues focused on The Practice Panel’s key research themes. 2017 and 2018 saw regional workshops offered at centres in Queensland, Australia and across the U.K. In 2018 and 2019, the Panel organized a linked series of international sessions in Brisbane (Australia), Manchester (U.K.), Orlando (U.S.) and Wellington (N.Z.). These sessions diffuse local research and real-world public sector experience internationally, promoting best practice in managing dialogue between public sector researchers and practitioners.

Panel members were invited to participate in  NETWORK GOVERNANCE AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN A COVID-19 WORLD , a virtual conference in which Government and community leaders in Norway and Australia shared experiences and reflections on the role of networks and digital technologies in responding to the challenges of COVID-19. Practitioners of public and community sectors in both Queensland (Australia) and Norway reflected on their experiences, identified challenges and opportunities, and explored future collaborations in this new context.  Two universities (University of Agder, Norway and Southern Cross University, Australia) co-designed and hosted the virtual conference and two IRSPM panels were involved: the Practitioner Panel and the Network Governance Panel. Christine Flynn, the Practitioner panel convenor, facilitated the panel session. The publication from this conference is referenced below.

In 2023, the Practice Panel offered for the first time an innovative session at IRSPM Budapest where civil service practitioners and academics from the city of Budapest engaged in a facilitated dialogue exploring ways of engaging with each other and utilising research and practice to improve outcomes. John Diamond facilitated the session with Gyorgy Hajnal. The session was well received.

The 2024 IRSPM conference in Tampere was a great success and the panel was well attended with new researchers testing their research with senior academics and practitioners reflecting the international and global networks of IRSPM.

The Practice Panel was successful in bidding for a session at the 2024 PMRA conference. The session (held at the Seattle conference) took the form of an ‘in conversation ‘with a panel including a senior professional from King County (in Washington state) and two experienced US researchers and practice focussed academics. This event will be followed up as part of the 2025 Practice Panel at Bologna and as part of a series of preparatory sessions for those interested in joining the panel or who may not be able to attend. As with our approach in both 2018 and 2019 our intention is to both deepen and extend the network linked to the Panel. In part this is to encourage greater dialogue and exchange of ideas but also to support a succession and sustainably strategy for the Panel.

Multiple publications have resulted from papers presented over the years. Some recent research outputs from panel contributors include:

• Flynn, C. 2019. “The Theory Underpinning Cross-Boundary Facilitation”, chapter in Crossing Boundaries in Public Policy and Management, Craven, L., Dickinson, H. Carey, G. Routledge, New York.
• Flynn, C. 2019 “Towards the Craft and Practice of Facilitation across Collaborative Boundaries”, chapter in Crossing Boundaries in Public Policy and Management, Craven, L., Dickinson, H. Carey, G. Routledge, New York.
• Kagan, C. and Diamond, J. (2019). University – Community Relations in the UK. Springer, New York and London (forthcoming). 
• Keast, R.,  Flynn, C, Noble.D., Trondahl J,. Pinheiro, R.  Part V1 towards a Research and and policy agenda for  governing complexity Chapter in Trondahl, J., Keast, R., Noble.D, Pinheiro, R. Governing Complexity in Times of Turbulence, 2022, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK
• Keast, R., Voets, J., Mee, J.W,, Flynn, C., A Modern Guide to Networks, 2023, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK

New members are welcome to join the panel by contacting any of the three co-convenors of the Practitioner panel. We particularly welcome new researchers, whether they be early career academics or practitioners who are becoming engaged in research.  There is no specific application process. We encourage practitioners from all levels of government and community practice to become part of the dialogue and reflection with academic members, which explores ways to improve the outcomes by better understanding of academic research and practice implementation