How policy labs change the game

They help students understand how theoretical frameworks are transformed into actionable strategies, write Harini Santhanam & Annapoorna Ravichander

A succinct definition of a policy lab is a hub to learn, meet and understand the nuances of policy-making processes. It is a space where students learn through experiential learning, participate in interesting discussions, put on their thinking caps to be creative and innovative, work on relevant government projects and, most importantly, a space that brings together relevant stakeholders and participants to hold healthy discussions, and understand complex issues. A policy Lab provides a platform to evaluate and ideate policies and programmes in a controlled environment. 

In India, where public policy is a rather new subject, introducing policy labs has gained momentum in several Departments of Public Policy across India. The introduction has attempted to bridge the gap between academia and practice, providing a space for students to have hands-on experience in understanding how policies are designed and implemented. It helps students understand how theoretical frameworks are transformed into actionable strategies. 

Policy labs also help students understand the importance of evidence-based policymaking by examining policies’ advantages and disadvantages. To elaborate, the importance and role of using data effectively is experienced and experimented with by providing students with dummy data to learn, understand and use data to produce effective analysis to feed into policy-making processes.

One of the important factors is to foster and encourage multidisciplinary collaborations and, more importantly, diversity of the learning needed for studying public policy. A policy lab typically includes students from different disciplines (which is now being practised during the enrolment of students). It provides spaces for interactions with policymakers, Experts from academia, industries, funding agencies, NGOs, and Think Tanks, to name a few. 

Students are provided practice sessions to think critically, improve their communication skills and, sometimes, design policies (as a practice). This helps students become problem solvers by exposing them to real-world issues. Methods such as debates, analyses of policies, mock dialogues, etc., have been part of the policy lab at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) Bengaluru campus.

While institutions of repute, such as NLSUI Bangalore, IIM Bengaluru, Takshashila, GRAAM, etc., have pioneered the delivery of experiential modules in public policy akin to a lab, these have been immersive experience sessions. Recent approaches to the policy lab space have introduced workshops as lab sessions (e.g. School of Economics, R V University Bangalore).

In short, policy labs primarily help students address the growing demand for practical and actionable policy solutions. It also helps to develop an agile framework to respond to emerging challenges like public health emergencies or economic downturns.

Policy labs can play a crucial role in meeting the demands of attaining the SDGs by being a soundboard to discuss key issues and develop policy Briefs for understanding and dissemination.

Challenges

The goals and objectives need to be defined clearly to avoid any misunderstanding. In some cases, funding becomes a constraint, especially when a well-planned programme is developed but lacks appropriate execution due to lack of funds. Bringing together stakeholders and practitioners often hinders active discussions, and it is solved with simple and inappropriate activities. 

Accessing data becomes difficult due to non-availability, skewed and appropriate data, and old and redundant data hampers in not having the correct information to provide scope for discussions and probable solutions. Due to a lack of details on measuring impact, policy labs wane away and struggle to validate and justify their existence. Since the design of a policy Lab is unique, integrating it with regular courses often becomes difficult, and it loses out on being a part of a formal process in academia. 

Policy labs help nurture innovation in governance when used as valuable tools, which requires careful ideation, planning, and execution. They help students experiment with innovation and designs and develop evidence-based ideas and context-sensitive policy solutions. A policy lab can act as a catalyst to foster innovation, practicality and inclusivity. 

(Annapoorna Ravichander is a Professor of Practice, and Harini Santhanam is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Public Policy (DPP) at the Bengaluru campus of a deemed university)