P12 SIG Practice Panel

Panel Member(s) & Contact Details

Correponding and Review group chair:

Christine Flynn, Christine Flynn Consulting: Christine.flynn@bigpond.com

Co-Chairs:

Professor John Diamond, Edgehill, UK (Emeritus): diamondj2014@icloud.com

Professor Garth Britton, Professor of Practice, QUT, Australia: garth@garthbritton.net

Professor Robert Shepherd, Professor Public Policy, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada: RobertPShepherd@Cunet.Carleton.Ca

Summary

This panel explores how academic research, and practical experience can collaboratively shape impactful public policy and service delivery. It emphasizes inclusive, locally grounded dialogue that integrates diverse voices—from early-career researchers to seasoned practitioners—into a shared learning process. Building on past insights, the panel invites contributions that bridge theory and practice through case studies, evaluations, and applied research methods.

Decsription

There has been a long tradition of public policy programmes designed to address community needs (i.e. health, housing or education) being influenced by or designed with the involvement of academic research, practice experience and evidence. There is now a strategic imperative to produce high quality impact which university leaders and senior public servants or politician’s demand.

The Practice Panel within IRSPM has successfully navigated the complexity of opening up the sessions to local practitioners and researchers with the help of local conference organisers. This creates opportunities for locally informed discussions mixing with the experiences of panel participants. The model we have developed of facilitated dialogue includes inviting local voices and experiences to contribute and remains one of the the Panel’s guiding principles.

The presence of local experiences (from different settings – all levels of public service or university) together with the international experiences present at the conference offers rich opportunities for discussion and reflection. Within the Panel (especially over the last three years) there has been a growing presence of early career researchers and practitioners, and their insights and experience provide a counterpoint to the views of those who been involved for longer.

These different (and overlapping) groups of interest and practice are illustrative of the need to ground discussions in a shared framework of learning. The iterative process the Panel has developed is to promote the importance of knowledge being built on knowledge. The Panel does not come to the conference starting with a blank sheet, but with a view that through the sharing of the key points discussed and the content of papers and reflections they create will be unique to the overall learning.

Knowledge Creation – from Bologna to Perth

The knowledge and understanding map (below) generated by the panel sessions held at Bologna provides an important starting point for Perth. It offers the basis of discussions which might then lead to different pathways and conditions for collaboration and learning at Perth. The Panel Draws on fields of collaboration, leadership, governance and behaviour in public policy and its application. The expectation is that participants will join the panel to share their experiences and analysis helped by the 2025 emerging conclusions and observations. The Practice Panel intends to build on its shared and growing knowledge and understandings both in the specific panel sessions but also through the cumulative and iterative processes it engages in through the individual panel sessions.

Acceptable methods highlighting the connection and application between academy and practice are invited including case studies, evaluation and assessment applications, qualitative and quantitative approaches.