The following report was prepared for Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and was prepared by Stephen MacGregor, David Phipps, Cathy Malcolm Edwards, Jen Kyffin, Virginie Portes. <\/p>\n\n
For over 20 years, there has been mounting interest\n in how the Canadian research enterprise can support research impact, referring\n to \u201cthe influence scholarly and creative inquiry has upon wider society,\n intended as well as unintended, immediate as well as protracted\u201d (Federation\n for the Humanities and Social Sciences, 2017, p. 13)[1]<\/a>. Efforts to progress\n research impact are known as knowledge mobilization (KMb). To date, much of\n the focus in KMb has been either on (a) the public policies driving increased\n emphasis on impact (e.g., Bandola-Fill, 2019; Boswell & Smith, 2017;\n Williams & Grant, 2018), or (b) moving research evidence from a project\n into its use by a downstream stakeholder and measuring that use (e.g., Edwards\n & Meagher, 2019; Morton, 2015; Budtz Pedersen et al., 2020). However,\n comparatively little is known about the KMb roles and functions of research\n institutions in support of research impact. This report outlines how research\n institutions will play a critical role in the future of KMb and research\n impact as the link between what governments and funders want and what\n researchers and their partners can deliver.<\/p>\n\n In 2006, SSHRC launched a renewed program\n architecture requiring every grant application to have a KMb strategy (i.e.,\n a plan outlining anticipated impacts with the target audiences along with the efforts\n that will be made to achieve them). Owing to this focus on KMb strategies, Canadian\n researchers are incentivized to focus on describing how<\/em> to create\n impacts (mission driven), which is notably different than many international\n examples (e.g., UK), where researchers are incentivized to focus on what <\/em>impacts\n have occurred (assessment driven). Seeing both framings as useful, the report invokes\n the concept of research impact literacy, defined as the ability to \u201cidentify\n appropriate impact goals and indicators, critically appraise and optimise\n impact pathways, and reflect on the skills needed to tailor approaches across\n contexts\u201d (Bayley & Phipps, 2019a, p. 3). Impact literacy recognizes that\n impact is influenced by actions and events not only at the level of individual\n researchers, but also at the levels of research institutions and the systems\n in which they are embedded. As\n research institutions begin to develop their impact literacy, the need to\n underpin KMb practice with KMb research has become more acute, setting the\n stage for where we are now (Table 1). <\/p>\n\n Table 1<\/p>\n\n Summary of the Past, Present, and\n Future of KMb and Impact<\/em><\/p>\n\n1. The Landscape for KMb and Impact: Where Have We\n Been?<\/h2>\n\n