The final Think and Link seminar “Improving the policy impact of research”as a final stage of of the Think and Link – Regional Policy Programme will take place in Belgrade, Serbia, on 26 and 27 of November, 2012 in the Hotel Park. The seminar will be in a form of closed sessions for the 24 researchers from 12 organisations from the Western Balkans. During thecourse of the seminar, participants will have a chance to learn new skills and techniques of how to improve the policy impact of their research, with particular reference to generating good quality policy products. The moderators, Maja Djuric, ODI/RAPID consultant and Louise Sexton, ODI/ RAPID Programme Officer, which were closely involved with the mentorship process of the 12 organizations will run the seminar. The examples of good policy writing, the outlining of the key characteristics that provide the high quality of these products and the turning of the drafts into a persuasive policy document – will also be discussed during the sessions of the programme. The process of developing the PAPs, the implementation of the research and the process of analyzing and writing up results, the policy advocacy objectives, the various advocacy approaches and strategies, the monitoring and evaluation plans will be the main topics of the seminar. The overview of the final results and the lessons learned during the implementation of the research projects will give the main conclusions about how to conduct policy relevant research and advocacy in the Western Balkans.
