Skip to main content

Blog Policy Lab

Organisations:
Civil Service

Launching MANIFEST, our new initiative to evaluate the role of art in policy

Posted by: , and , Posted on: - Categories: Policy Lab
From left to right a photograph of the artistic duo Semiconductor standing by a circuitboard, Christopher Samuels sat in a motorised wheelchair in an art studio and Dryden Goodwin, standing in a road tunnel in front of sequence of posters showing his sketches

Policy Lab has an eight year history of testing innovative approaches to policymaking. Central to this story is collaboration between different disciplines, whether they be from the social sciences, sciences, humanities or arts. Some of the methods, such as design …

Using collective intelligence in government: a view from the Policy Profession Unit

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Collective Intelligence, Examples and findings

We recently wrote about how Collective Intelligence tools can be applied to complex policy areas. This blog is the first in a series of guest posts from policy teams sharing their experiences of working with our Collective Intelligence Lab. We …

Cutting through complexity using collective intelligence

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Collective Intelligence, Policy Lab
opinion groups generated by Polis, based on the way participants vote (agree, disagree, pass/unsure) on statements.

This post sets out Collective Intelligence Lab’s reflections on our experiments to date and how this approach could be applied to complex policy areas such as climate change. What is collective intelligence? At Policy Lab, we strive to radically improve …

What can innovation bring to place-based policymaking?

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Thought Pieces
A square plank of wood with a map of roads etched into it local to Stourbridge

Over the summer we visited Imagination Lancaster for a Design in Place Based Policy Workshop with inspiring colleagues from government and academia. We looked at what is meant by place-based policy, the types of tools and methods that could be used in designing policies for different places and the potential to work in partnership to innovate in place-based policymaking.

An independent review of children's social care: Appreciating the wider family context

Photo of a young child sitting carpeted floor playing with toys, taken from the eye level of the child. Child's face isn't shown.

For the independent review of children’s social care, we were asked to scratch beneath the surface, by looking at wider family contexts, to understand the impact of the system on the families who navigate it.

Launching our experimental policy design methods

Posted by: and , Posted on: - Categories: News, Skills, tools and techniques
Picture showing a set of virtual cards which describe 11 experimental methods and approaches which Policy Lab think have the potential to shift how policy is developed, in radically different ways. The 11 cards are: superforcasting, serious games, legislative theatre, engaging through the metaverse, digital twins, bodystorming, moral imaginings, decentralised autonomous organisations, art in policy, citizen assemblies, regenerative design.

Design thinking continues to permeate our work, but over the last year, we have been scanning the horizon to identify the next wave of innovative methods that could improve the way policy is made, tested and delivered in order to de-risk interventions and make processes more effective.