Linking research and policy in water and sanitation: findings from the SPLASH ERA-Net

The overall goal of the SPLASH ERA-Net is to improve the coordination of European water research aimed at reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Within this, one of the focus areas of SPLASH is to foster participatory transfer of research into policy. This paper documents the results of an investigation into how to improve the application of research throughout the whole process of designing, conducting and communicating research, to those engaged in policy making and practice. The findings of this consultation have been revealing about the inadequacy of the present design and implementation of research programmes and their uptake into development and policy. However, it also generated ideas, some based on good practice, of how this can be improved and made to work effectively. These are important lessons which can be taken forward into the design and implementation of future research programmes to ensure better uptake of EU Member State research.