How do I build policy engagement into project design?

Building policy engagement (or any engagement or impact) into research projects can be a very important way to:

• Engage early with policy stakeholders and decision-makers to help shape your research questions for maximum impact and ensure that they are on board
• Design engagement activities for maximum impact
• Design low-effort monitoring and evaluation activities to demonstrate your impact and to know when and where to alter your approaches for maximum impact
• Make sure that you have budget for policy engagement activities, to ensure that you have time and funding to engage in the project plan