The Institutional Research Agenda is ACRES’ 5-year strategic roadmap, a master plan designed to ensure our work leads the Evidence-Informed Decision-Making (EIDM) field. Developed by the Research, Innovation, and Evaluations Unit, this agenda defines exactly where we will focus our energy to maximize the impact EIDM across the continent.
This agenda was born from a need for focus. In a world of competing priorities, ACRES uses this roadmap to bridge the gaps in the EIDM landscape. By aligning our activities with the real-world needs of policymakers, we ensure that our research remains a catalyst for change rather than just a collection of academic papers.
To ensure the agenda is both visionary and practical, we utilized a multi-stage, iterative process to define our path forward:
- The intelligence phase: An exhaustive desk review of global and local EIDM literature to identify where the knowledge voids truly exist.
- The voice of the stakeholder: In-depth interviews with key informants; the decision-makers and researchers who live the challenges every day.
- The decision phase: A structured priority-setting exercise to distil hundreds of potential topics into a focused list of high-impact research pillars.
This roadmap is ACRES’ promise to our partners and clientele. It ensures that as the political and social landscape of Uganda shifts, our institution remains agile and responsive. The Institutional Research Agenda is our commitment to maintaining scientific excellence while delivering the specific evidence required to build a more equitable and informed future.
