2017 Conference Highlights The Inaugural Policy Community Conference, graciously hosted on unceded territory of the Algonquin peoples

• Policy community includes research, evaluation, policy, programs and operations 

• Be open: Put the problem at the centre and invite solutions to enable creativity 

• Expand the toolkit: use novel policy instruments to achieve the desired outcomes

• Be outward looking: Seek to build diversity in external stakeholder networks; know the environment when planning to engage; be fundamentally partnership oriented 

• Experiment: test rigorously for impacts and outcomes; choose experiments that fit context

• Be transparent: Honest communication about results builds trust; recognizing what’s not working leads to improvement 

• Decolonialize policy thinking: involve the individuals the policy is likely/designed to impact; never “for”, think “with” 

Matthew Mendelsohn

Elissa Golberg

Fraser Valentine

Two case studies examined how data can be marshaled to design policies that deliver results and impact: Canada’s International Assistance Review and Express Entry for Economic Immigrants.

•  Administrative data is a rich resource that complements other data sources, and can add to agility and timely advice.
• Ensure diversity in the voices informing policy thinking. Try different and innovative approaches and tools to enable those voices to be heard.
• Reach out and interact with stakeholders on a regular basis to gather various perspectives.
• Build your evidence base to make effective and timely policy and program decisions.
• Evidence alone will not drive policy change- other factors include timing, capacity and political engagement.
  

Matthew Mendelsohn

Taki Sarantakis

Sabine Kröger

Jean-Pierre Voyer

Elizabeth Hardy

• Move from "talking about how much was spent" to "talking about results"; what is being done for Canadians with money being spent?
• New terms and conditions to support use of tools (like Performance Pay to partners, Prize Challenges and micropayments) are coming. Innovations don't have to be big ideas that cost a lot of money. 
• Non-results from testing can be very insightful. Lab based experiments on behaviours can also be a less expensive way to test policy design. 
• Experimental, theory and observational data work together for understanding policy issues. Academia can be a partner in this. 

Dr. Steffen Christensen

• Ideas we imagine to be futuristic are happening now.
• Undertaking a systematic scan of emerging trends in more than just technological advances, enables informed thinking about plausible future scenarios that may need a policy response. 
•  Policy Horizons has a wealth of tools and a methodology to enable such systematic thinking; an exercise from the Horizons toolkit was conducted through group work on six relevant themes. 
• This practical activity for both in-room and online audiences challenged them to think through one change driver and its potential implications for Canadians in 15 years. 

Stephen Huddart

Chad Park

Lauren Hunter

Julie Greene

• Government needs civil society to land programs and surface new ideas. 
• Civil Society needs government to take proven approaches to scale
• We're talking about collaboration based on a new relationship between civil society and government - a relationship focused on contributing our respective capacities for innovation, for taking risks, generating public engagement and creating systemic change at meaningful levels of scale.
• Three projects were shared as examples of cross-sector partnering; the Talent Cloud, Energy Futures Lab in Alberta and Innovation in Public Health Agency program for Chronic Disease prevention. 

Peter McLeod

Jordan Zed

Sue Barclay

Kimberly Lavoie

Gail Haarsma

• Publics can smell sincerity and have a sense of the value of their time. 
• Presenting a tangible problem they can help solve is better than a broad question about likes and preferences. 
• This panel shared concrete examples of engagement strategies and approaches in areas of public health, community safety planning and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. 
• Public opinion and experience is evidence; evidence of habit and values and ways of using policies and programs in the real world that have a real impact on their effectiveness. Public engagement is at least a way of knowing the environment into which a policy or program is going. 
• Engagement design needs to consider multiple strategies for reaching people where they are and on their terms. 
• A one-size-fits-all digital approach may not yield the input being sought. Acknowledging the expertise in a community goes a long way. 

Jonathan Dewar, 

Manitok Thompson

Keith Conn

Erin Corston

Jennifer Lord

Danielle White

• Indigenous communities are the experts in indigenous experiences, perspectives and futures. Face-to-face engagement with those most impacted by policies is essential. 
• Flexibility and responsiveness in policies is needed to accommodate cultural practices, environmental realities and community priorities. 
• This panel included speakers from Government and external organizations and emphasised the diversity and heterogenaity of cultural communities across the country.
• Shifting away from thinking in "deficits" in programming, focus can be put on strengths in culture, language, comprehensive planning and adaptation.