Collaborative knowledge co-production to advance social impact in Australian food relief: Outcomes of a research-practice-policy partnership.

Description

Research Aim:
Long-term, cross-sector collaboration can better address chronic food insecurity in high-income countries. A decade-long collaboration among South Australian academics, policymakers, and practitioners led to a 3-year research partnership, aiming to co-produce knowledge, tools, and resources for future implementation.

Method(s):
A nationally-funded project used Knowledge Translation (KT) strategies, including a knowledge broker and ongoing impact evaluation, to strengthen multi-actor collaboration. Researchers used mixed methods to assess stakeholder engagement, value co-creation, and policy influence in the food relief sector.

Key Finding(s):
Structural and relational mechanisms sustained interorganisational partnerships and produced tangible impacts in food relief practice, as well as significant influence on policy direction. A five-step KT process provided a replicable model for enhancing collaboration between research, practice, and policy actors in purpose-driven collaborations. The project highlighted the need for strategic and purposeful investment in KT to ensure effective collaboration and implementation.

Discussion questions:
How can KT strategies be resourced and implemented to ensure influence on food relief sector collaborations? What are the likely contributors to the sustainment of long-term, cross-sector collaborations for systems-level impact?

Challenges and Lessons Learnt:
Differing priorities, timelines, and organisational changes posed challenges. Continuous stakeholder engagement is crucial for timely, relevant input to practice and policy. Knowledge brokers facilitate trust, value co-creation, and systems change. Future longitudinal evaluations are needed to assess sustained impact of such collaborations.

Key highlights:
1.The research partnership highlights academics as knowledge brokers, facilitating trust, value co-creation, and systems change. 2.By co-producing knowledge, tools, and resources, the initiative has advanced practice and influenced policy for dignified, impactful food relief services to improve lives.

Period	28 Oct 2025
Event title	EIS: Evidence & Implementation Summit 2025
Event type	Conference
Location	Melbourne, AustraliaShow on map