A Shift in Activities
There is no blueprint because pathways to impact will always be context-dependent. Will spending less time on publications and more time engaging with the community accelerate the path to understanding the specifics of the research context? Or might publishing initial findings align with the mission of a funder wedded to an evidence-based approach? The answers to these questions will always be bespoke. However, if you have an NGO partner with community connections who can easily host a participatory workshop and has data on hand that addresses the funder’s needs, then these questions become moot. Recognising you are not working independently is how this shift in activities can potentially not translate to additional labour. Finding partners who have access or expertise you do not is how together you can seed greater impact.