RAND Europe Spotlight: 2021-2022

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Spotlight 2021-2022

The complexities of COVID-19 have increased the importance of evidence-based policymaking. From domestic policies related to child policy, mental health and criminal justice, to international challenges like climate change, illicit markets, counterterrorism and truth decay, our annual review highlights selected RAND Europe projects that address the important issues of our time.

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References for Spotlight 2021-2022

Action stations

  • Crisis response in a changing climate

    Researchers identified climate change challenges likely to emerge and propose five concrete policy actions that the UK Ministry of Defence could take to mitigate the impact of climate change on crisis response situations.

Caring through COVID

Exploring Truth Decay in Europe

  • Truth Decay in Europe

    Using the framework of RAND's original Truth Decay study, which focused on the United States, researchers uncovered evidence for the trends, drivers and consequences of Truth Decay in Europe. As the phenomenon is less pervasive than in the US, however, they also suggest actions to slow its growth.

Defining terrorism is the first step to defeating it

  • Understanding how acts of violence are classified

    How experts classify an act of violence is driven by knowledge of the perpetrator’s motivation, recognition of the ideology, and availability of information on mental health and social media use. Public perception, knowledge of available definitions and the classifier’s own background also influence classification.

  • Defining 'Terrorism' Is the First Step to Defeating It

    Western policy- and decisionmakers continue to grapple with how to define acts of terrorism and when it is appropriate to bring terrorism charges. Establishing a consensus on the definition of terrorism and bringing to center stage the importance of adequately charging acts of terrorism could be more important than ever.

Dirty money

Survival kit

  • Assessing the challenges in UK defence equipment acquisition

    Three broad drivers of common defence programme cost and schedule problems could be mitigated by establishing effective challenge processes, professionalising certain job functions, focusing on risk management and understanding, and embedding clear lessons-learned processes.

Money matters

Crisis points

  • Evaluating offender liaison and diversion trial schemes

    Researchers evaluated a new model of liaison and diversion (L&D) schemes, which aim to improve early identification of a range of health vulnerabilities among people passing through the UK youth or adult criminal justice system.

Transatlantic solidarity

Lean on me

Home comfort

The future of the REF

  • Understanding researcher views on REF 2021

    A real-time evaluation of the REF 2021 assessment process found that overall views on the REF are mixed. Many researchers perceive that the REF has a negative influence on UK researchers and the research community, but views on specific aspects and influences of the REF are more nuanced.

  • The Future of REF: Driving a Culture to Maximise High-Quality Research and Impact

    RAND Europe studied the attitudes of the UK’s research community towards the Research Excellence Framework. Through surveys, interviews and focus groups, the study team was able to gain valuable insight into researcher views across disciplines, career stages and types of institutions.

Tackling society challenges in Norway

Watch this space

  • Realising the ambitions of the UK’s Defence Space Strategy

    Researchers examined the factors influencing the implementation of the Defence Space Strategy to 2030 as well as the unique attributes of the UK space enterprise—including its strengths and weaknesses. They include a decision support tool to help decision makers navigate capability management choices along the 'own-collaborate-access' framework articulated in the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy.

Closing the gap

  • Examining the digital skills gap

    Researchers assessed the evidence associated with the digital skills gap. The study analysed the key trends driving the gap at a global level and articulated some practical steps to address this challenge and potentially ‘close’ the gap.

Bouncing back

On the horizon

  • Evaluating the progress and impacts of the COG-UK consortium

    An evaluation of the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium finds that it has made a significant and valuable contribution to the UK's public health genomics landscape, but its legacy will depend on decision makers' abilities to maintain momentum, ensure adequate governance, and other factors.