Policy Masterclass: Reflections from the Open Innovation Team

Posted on Thursday 4 December 2025

On Tuesday 26th November, we delivered our Policy Masterclass at the University of York, a workshop designed to help academics and researchers understand how policymaking works in practice. As the demand for research impact grows and funders increasingly expect academics to demonstrate real-world influence, understanding the policy landscape has become essential. This is where the partnership between the Open Innovation Team and York proves particularly valuable: it connects civil servants with direct policy experience with a fantastic range of researchers and academics, creating opportunities for genuine knowledge exchange and mutual learning.

The Masterclass offers us a rewarding opportunity to engage with researchers across diverse disciplines while being challenged to clearly explain the often complex and messy policy system we navigate daily. More importantly, it allows us to demystify policymaking and equip academics with practical insights for engaging effectively with government.

What we covered

The workshop addresses three interconnected themes. We begin by introducing participants to fundamental concepts about what policy is, how it works, and why it matters. This foundation helps researchers move beyond common misconceptions about linear, evidence-based policymaking and appreciate the realities of competing priorities, political cycles, and resource constraints.

The centrepiece of the session is our policymaking board game, 'Influence Points'. Participants take on the roles of policy stakeholders tasked with introducing reform to a policy area. They must discuss, collaborate and persuade their fellow players to choose policy options that align, or sometimes conflict, with their individual agendas. The game simulates the negotiation, compromise, and strategic thinking that characterise real policy processes.

Following the game, we guide participants in translating their experience into practical frameworks they can apply to their own research. This reflective phase helps academics identify concrete strategies for positioning their work, building alliances, and communicating effectively with policymakers.

Reflections from the session

Each iteration of 'Influence Points' produces different dynamics, and this session was no exception. It was particularly rewarding to observe how participants developed and grew into their roles as the game progressed. Initially, players approached their roles with caution, assessing their objectives, identifying potential allies, and recognising rivals. By the final round, the energy and substance of discussions had transformed, collaborations formed rapidly, arguments became more sophisticated - and watching the group reach a unanimous decision was genuinely exciting!

The post-game debrief proved especially valuable. Participants offered thoughtful reflections on the experience, with excellent observations about effective collaboration strategies and aspects of the game that challenged their preconceptions about policymaking. One recurring theme was the realisation that policy influence often depends less on having the "best" evidence and more on timing, framing and building coalitions with unlikely partners.

Practical Takeaways for Researchers

For academics seeking to engage more effectively with policy, several key lessons emerged from the session:

1. Framing your research matters. Policymakers operate under tight timescales, political pressures, and limited budgets. Framing your research in terms of these realities, by aligning how you discuss your work with prevalent policy issues and priorities, makes it immediately clear why you research is relevant to policymakers and how it might inform current debates.
2. Collaboration amplifies impact. The most successful players in our game were those who formed strategic partnerships, even with stakeholders whose priorities initially seemed misaligned. In the real policy world, broad coalitions can often be influential than individual expert voices. Consider how you might build your own collaborations across your network of influence.
3. Solutions need to be politically feasible to be appealing. Evidence alone rarely drives policy decisions. Policymakers must balance technical merit against political realities, public opinion and delivery constraints. Policy solutions that acknowledge these factors and offer workable solutions within existing political and resource constraints are far more likely to be appealing than technically perfect but politically unviable recommendations. Consider how the policy recommendations relevant to your research fit within this context, particularly considering policy solutions that may be less interventionist but more politically feasible.

Feedback from Masterclass participants

"The interactive and engaging activities were powerful. It amplified the lessons about policymaking...For me, it has entirely changed how to approach policymaking and how to integrate policies in my research."

"What I found most useful about the training was how it was communicated, I think. The game was excellent."

"The game provided helpful insights into the complex dynamics that can be involved in the policy implementation process. We also received helpful concepts and paradigms for thinking through how policy making can work in practice. We also got time to reflect on translating our research into a set of policy engagement strategies...It was very enjoyable"

Looking Ahead

We extend our thanks to all participants for their engagement and thoughtful contributions to this session. The quality of discussion and willingness to embrace the uncertainties of the game made it a genuinely enriching experience for facilitators and participants alike.

If you are interested in participating in a future Policy Masterclass or other policy-related training delivered by the Open Innovation Team, please contact Katie Heffron at the York Policy Engine (TYPE) at katie.heffron@york.ac.uk. We look forward to continuing delivering these sessions through our partnership with TYPE and hope to see you at the next training!