Knowledge production
One key dimension of the work of the Panel is to address knowledge gaps regarding the interdependence between the main components of the social progress agenda and their coordinated implementation in societies via the production of topical reports. Co-creation and an open-ended iterative process govern the exact definition of the topics and the final composition of author teams. The final selection of topics is decided by the Advisory Board.
IPSP reports produced by the various working groups will include a summary that will recap in accessible terms the main takeaway messages as well as concrete steps for actions and the associated toolkit. For each report, a phase collecting comments as widely as possible from scholars and practitioners will help the authors revise their text and produce analyses and recommendations of high quality, relevance, and accessibility. The reports will lead to the preparation of various documents that will be adapted to various targeted audiences.
The IPSP approach, enshrined in its first Report, consists in adopting explicit assumptions about the underlying social objectives and values encapsulating social progress, and making recommendations conditional on such normative assumptions. This departs from the famous “policy relevant, not policy prescriptive” mantra proclaimed by the IPCC, and is meant to facilitate the use of such reports by actors. The presence of proposals and recommandations will not smuggle in value judgments and will leave the users of the reports free to disregard the conclusions that are linked to normative assumptions they do not endorse.
In a second phase, the selection of topics may involve a participatory mechanism involving a larger set of stakeholders through public consultations (representative panels, emailing campaigns targeting larger communities of scholars and actors, ad hoc opinion poll surveys, etc.). Comments and suggestions on the IPSP online portal as well as open calls could be useful inclusive tools. Specific attention is given to marginalized voices and communities in developing and developed countries at this initial stage of the work process. A different category of more focused reports will be particularly useful on the platform, providing directly relevant material to actors interested in developing similar experiment.
A diversity of formats to reach out various target audiences
Beyond its periodic productions, the Panel will support the production of these diversified outputs, notably briefs and notes, data stories/interpretations, online seminars, MOOCs, podcasts, live chats, knowledge graphs. It will also encourage its authors to produce additional related works such as scientific publications (including special issues by journals), dissemination articles, videos, interviews, lectures, etc.
Importantly, the Panel will not only support various hybrid formats of knowledge sharing and transfer (online lecture series, dissemination and outreach events, etc.) but also focus on the implementation stage by actors and doers (through webinars, online chats, training sessions, workshops, etc.).
In addition to producing and publicizing these outputs, the Panel may decide to commission or directly support the production of other formats such as documentaries, interviews, clips, etc. and gather them into specific and/or periodic series. It is fully understood that reaching out the various target audiences of the Panel (scholars, private corporations, NGOs, media, think tanks, governments, civil servants, teachers/ students, general public) will require differentiated formats (text, audio, video, maps, data) with the appropriate lengths and adequate modes of expression (scientific, expert, actionable, ludic, accessible).