Reflections on Evidence Dissemination and Uptake: (Re)Introducing ERICC to INEE Members

About ERICC

Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) is a six-year Education in Emergencies (EiE) research programme funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The programme aims to bridge research, practice, and policy with accessible and actionable knowledge — at local, national, regional, and global levels — through co-construction of research and collaborative partnerships. Countries in focus include Bangladesh (Cox’s Bazar), Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria. 

The ERICC Programme includes four components, each working to further the overall vision of the EiE sector strengthened through relevant and robust evidence.

• Component 1 focuses on producing rigorous, stakeholder-informed research on effective education approaches in conflict and protracted crisis. This research consortium is led by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), with Academic Lead IOE, University College London’s (UCL) Faculty of Education and Society. 
  • Examples of work: country-level research on the implementation of the Myanmar curriculum in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh; global evidence review on teacher management. 
     
• Component 2 is a Helpdesk service for FCDO Education Advisers, and its partners, bridging research, practice, and policy through timely, actionable, and comprehensive responses. This component is also led by IRC. 
  • Example of work: rapid review of literature on school kidnap victims in Northern Nigeria.
     
• Component 3 is focused on the dissemination and uptake of ERICC evidence; in other words, ensuring that emerging ERICC evidence is accessible and the right people have the right information to make evidence-based decisions for policy and practice. This component is led by INEE. 
  • Examples of work: webinars on data systems and refugee inclusion in conflict and crisis settings.
     
• Component 4 is focused on strengthening institutional capacity of Global South research institutions, and building the capacity of early career researchers in the Global South. This component is led by the British Academy Bilateral Chairs in Iraq, Lebanon, and Bangladesh
  • Example of work: in-depth analysis of equitable knowledge production on refugee education.

Together, these four components work to ensure that the Education in Emergencies (EiE) research landscape moves towards improved coherence in evidence generation, more evidence informed decision-making, and increased Global South leadership in producing and using research. 

INEE’s role in the ERICC programme

INEE formally joined ERICC as the dissemination and uptake lead in February 2024. In this role, we are working to ensure that key regional and global stakeholders, engaged in policy making, policy influencing, or programming, are able to access, understand and use ERICC evidence meaningfully. In order to do so, INEE will host web events, publish blogs, articles, infographics, and podcasts, and translate these products across multiple languages.

However, one-time and one-way dissemination efforts alone are not enough to ensure that research findings permeate public consciousness, policy, or practice. Recognising this, INEE will work to ensure that ERICC products will not live in isolation; rather, they will be presented, discussed, and debated within the larger context of the EiE research landscape. 

Moreover, in a landscape with ever-changing needs and constant funding constraints, there is a real need to create a shared evidence base accessible to all actors in the sector, and together build an improved culture of evidence use. This brings us to the question of uptake: how can we ensure that actors across the EiE sector are empowered to use and apply evidence meaningfully in their work? This is a key part of INEE’s work through ERICC and our broader evidence portfolio.

Research uptake: Building on local successes

Working towards greater research uptake, the ERICC programme design includes the participation of the “end-user” of the research throughout the process. In each country of focus, local policymakers and government officials are heavily involved in co-constructing the research agenda that sets the way forward for the ERICC team’s work in the country. 

In Nigeria, this approach has led to an early uptake success story: as the co-constructed research agenda pointed towards the need for better policies around teacher hiring and retention, the ERICC team in Nigeria focused on identifying best practices from recent teacher-related legislation in Kaduna State. These findings were incorporated into the Teachers’ Recruitment, Retention, and Redeployment Bill passed in Adamawa State in 2023, ensuring that Adamawa’s bill incorporated lessons learned from Kaduna.

INEE’s design principles for research uptake

INEE’s work, at the regional and global level, will build on these early local examples of uptake. Through our position in the sector as a convening actor, and particularly with our presence in many global fora and strategic committees, we will work to bring actors together to move the needle forward on evidence use in the EiE sector. 

INEE will approach uptake through the following principles:

• Centre users in design, development, and decision making. INEE will prioritise stakeholders’ needs and input at all stages of our work. 
• Move towards a climate of consensus. Rather than focusing on a single outcome from a single influential actor or group, INEE aims to strengthen collective and collaborative action in the EiE space.
• Process is also a product, as process dictates product. INEE’s strategy aims to move beyond producing only dissemination “products” and instead also explore and innovate processes that can sustain a culture of evidence use and uptake.
• Learning is continuous, routinely captured, acted upon, and shared. INEE commits to documenting our processes, successes, failures, and learnings and making them available to the sector.

An invitation to our members

We want to take this work forward with you, our members. While we will publish regular updates on the ERICC programme and reflections on our work, we also hope to hear from you along the way.  We invite you to contact us, ask us questions about ERICC evidence, inquire about your thematic interests and focus areas, and help us bridge the gap between research and practice.

INEE is a global network that exists for and because of its members. Through our work on ERICC and beyond, we hope to take small but steady steps towards building a culture of thoughtful, curious, and critical engagement with evidence. 

For more information, contact Shreya Shreeraman, INEE Research Uptake Coordinator, at [email protected].

This material has been funded by UK International Development from the UK government. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed here are entirely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the ERICC Programme, the authors’ respective organisations, or the UK government’s official policies.