The first Oxford graduates join the Local Policy Fellows programme

These graduates have been announced as the inaugural Local Politics Fellows in a collaborative effort that also includes Oxford Brookes University.

The program aims to bridge the gap between academic research and local policymaking, offering students and researchers the opportunity to engage with the community and understand public policies at a local scale.

Local Policy Fellows will work with Oxfordshire County Council and policy partners to undertake impact assessments, evaluate datasets and collect qualitative data related to health and climate policy initiatives.

Additional support for each fellow will be provided by professional facilitators and academic mentors from the University of Oxford.

Fellows will conduct research across nine projects, ranging from assessing society’s green prescribing opportunities for children and young people to identifying promising practices for decarbonizing schools.

Other topics include health projects, home visits for healthier and greener homes, and underrepresented voices in climate action.

Professor Alex Betts, specialist in local and global engagement at the University of Oxford, welcomed the initiative.

He said: “As the home of two major universities, Oxford – and the whole of Oxfordshire – could gain access to a range of cutting-edge impact-based research that could provide solutions to the public policy challenges facing the city and county.”

Councilor Liz Leffman, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, echoed this sentiment, expressing her excitement about the program: “Local Policy Fellows will have the opportunity to apply what they learn in the lecture hall to current policy challenges, directly influencing local decision-making processes to improve outcomes throughout the district.”

The fellowship program began with a series of weekly training sessions, ranging from local policy and community engagement to data skills.

Local Policy Fellows will begin fieldwork and data analysis next month, and findings and policy recommendations from each project will be presented in July.

Professor Koula Asimakopoulou, Associate Dean for Research and EC at the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Oxford Brookes University, said: “Oxford Brookes is delighted to be working with Oxford County Council and our friends and academic colleagues at Oxford to deliver this initiative.”

The Local Policy Lab Fellowship Program is the first initiative of the Local Policy Lab, which aims to strengthen relationships between policymakers, community groups and university researchers in Oxfordshire.

The event started in March with over 100 participants and saw the idea of ​​an Oxfordshire Policy Research Alliance born.