BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Evidence is Not Enough: Towards a democratically legitimate role f or evidence in health policymaking - Dr Katherine Smith\, Reader - Global Public Health Unit Social Policy\, School of Social &\; Political Scien ce\, University of Edinburgh DTSTART:20171124T130000Z DTEND:20171124T140000Z UID:TALK72861@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:Rosa Attwood DESCRIPTION:There is\, according to a much debated recent paper\, ‘a per fect storm’ gathering around the concept of ‘evidence-based policy’ (EBP)\, ‘generated by the insurgence of several concurrent crises’ (Sa ltelli and Giampietro\, 2015: p1). This includes growing public distrust i n science and academic expertise following the failings of mainstream econ omics that were highlighted by the 2008 global economic crisis\, as well a s broader indicators of public dissatisfaction with traditional policy eli tes. More specifically\, analyses of health policies developed in the UK i n an era of EBP rhetoric have struggled to identify concrete examples of E BP. Despite this\, researchers and funders concerned with public health s eem reluctant to relinquish the idea that policies might one date be ‘ev idence-based’ and continue to invest in efforts to ‘translate’ evide nce for policy (e.g. Diem et al\, 2015)\, while frequently bemoaning the p ersistent ‘barrier’ of ‘politics’ (see Pawson\, 2006). Employing h ealth inequalities as a case study\, this talk will argue that\, by failin g to move beyond simplistic caricatures of rational scientists battling st rategic politicians\, proponents of EBP too rarely give sufficient conside ration to the complexity of politics or the role of the public in policy d ebates. On the other hand\, while popular theories of policy change offer important insights to politics and policymaking\, they say little about th e potential for researchers and evidence to inform these processes. Agains t this backdrop\, this paper argues that we need to explore more political ly informed\, democratically legitimate roles for evidence in policy debat es\, combining what we know about effective knowledge translation with exp ertise in policymaking and deliberative processes.\n\nThis seminar will be delivered by Dr Katherine Smith\, Reader\, Global Public Health Unit\, Sc hool of Social & Political Science\, University of Edinburgh.\n\nChaired b y Professor Theresa Marteau\, Director of the Behaviour and Health Researc h Unit\, University of Cambridge.\n\n\n LOCATION:Large Seminar Room\, 1st Floor\, Institute of Public Health\, Uni versity Forvie Site\, Robinson Way\, Cambridge END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR