First prize goes to …
‘The Dissolution of citizenship education as a separate subject in secondary schools’ by Kathryn Fusco, MA Education student
Runner-up prize goes to …
‘Imagining the post-Covid world: Building safe, resilient and sustainable communities in Sri Lanka’ by Savandie Abeyratna, PhD candidate, Social Work and Social Policy
This CEPA competition encourages postgraduate students to develop their public engagement skills. Writing a policy brief can help build an audience for the research and identify potential research partners. Depending on the stage of research, the purpose of the brief can be to highlight a research need or identify policy implications related to the research. Policy briefs can be addressed to a variety of policy actors (e.g. to policy makers or to broader communities affected by current policies).
Judges were impressed by these entries, particularly the compelling way students articulated the policy relevance of the research , identified a clear target audience, and presented robust research evidence.
Students valued the experience of participating. Runner-up, PhD candidate Savandie Abeyratna said: “I am extremely grateful for the CEPA competition as it has enabled the development of my creative communication skills. This competition has also motivated me in my PhD journey so far and now also enabled me to apply it in my work on the ground”.
Ms Abeyratna is using her CEPA prize to organise a public engagement competition around waste management. She aims also to both identify and develop the hidden human resources in the local community.