• Arun Agrawal, Professor, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan (arunagra@umich.edu)
  Arun Agrawal is widely known as one of the leading researchers in the field of environmental governance and teaches environmental politics in the School of Natural Resources & Environment at the University of Michigan. He coordinates the University of Michigan’s Collaborating Research Center for the International Forestry Resources and Institutions network, the Forests and Livelihoods: Assessment, Research, and Engagement (FLARE) Network, and the Sustainability and Development Initiative, and serves as the Editor-in-Chief of World Development. His research and teaching emphasize the politics of international development, institutional change, and environmental governance. He has written on indigenous knowledge, community-based conservation, common property, politics of resource governance, and environmental identities. In addition to three books, he has authored articles in journals such as Science, PNAS, Comparative Political Studies, Current Anthropology, Conservation Biology, Development and Change, and Global Environmental Change.

Researchers care about impact. How they care about impact and what they do to produce impact varies substantially. Thus, some researchers care mostly about impact among their own and expect research to generate impact through its own excellence. Some work actively to disseminate research findings using media in an effort to connect to diverse audiences. Yet others collaborate with others to promote translation of their research. This interactive and practical workshop will focus on how to generate greater impact from your research. As part of addressing this question the workshop will also help participants examine how to critically assess different research questions in which they might be interested.

• Learn to assess critically different research questions and criteria on which to evaluate the likelihood of generating interesting findings
• Introduction to practical strategies to disseminate your research and increase its impact
• Learn to differentiate your audience and assess impact strategies for
• Learn how to use your existing networks, and how to build stronger and more encompassing networks to share research
• Metrics for assessing the impact of your research – moving beyond citations
• Practice session to apply ideas from the workshop to develop an impact plan for your own research

Session 1: 80 minutes

·        Welcome, participant introductions, introduction to the workshop goals (15 min)

·        Assessing research questions for potential impact (20 min)

·        Practice exercise (10 min)

·        General strategies for research dissemination and impact (20 min)

·        Practice exercise (10 min)

Break (20 mins.)

Session 2: 65 minutes

·        Differentiating research audiences and impact strategies (20 min)

·        Building and using networks effectively (20 min)

·        Practice exercise (25 min)