Learning communities

Creating opportunities for exchange and learning between our partners and wider policy communities

Why it matters? 

Innovative ideas can come from anywhere. Yet in practice, it can be difficult for them to spread both within organisations and amongst wider networks. Policymakers often invest time and resources in developing new policies or programmes, unaware of other similar initiatives that they could learn from and build on. IGL acts as a connector and a convenor, using our global networks to identify promising ideas and good practices in the policy areas that we work in, and creating spaces where policymakers, practitioners, researchers and funders can learn with and from each other. Our aim is to provide a space for honest reflection on both the successes and the challenges that arise while embedding more experimental, evidence and data-driven approaches.

Our work and impact

Across the IGL Partnership and our wide range of projects, we are always looking for opportunities to promote learning. For our core members, we run working groups on topics of shared interest, and deliver a regular programme of inspiration sessions and bespoke workshops.

In collaboration with others, we have also designed and delivered capacity building programmes to organisations that are either taking their first steps with experimental policymaking, or that are developing more expert practices. For example, in recent years we have run cohort-based programmes for both the Taftie network of European innovation agencies and the EURADA network of regional development agencies. As part of these programmes, participating organisations developed their knowledge of how to design and run different types of experiments, and then identified practical opportunities within their own organisations and programmes to set an experiment in motion.

Key resources