How one funder approaches policy change – Suzanty Sitorus
This interview with {SUZANTY SITORUS} is part of the {POLICY UNSTUCK} series. Suzanty is the Executive Director of ViriyaENB.
Narratives matter because technical aspects alone won’t carry the day
The question about narrative is important because within a complex policy environment it’s not sufficient to rely only on technical aspects – there are a number of other factors at play. One is the multiplicity factor. Policy is made by multiple people – even within autocratic systems – and often their opinions are not unified. They have different worldviews and different understandings about how things should be done. Another factor is that national policy has to make it through multiple layers of governance as it is implemented across regions. And of course, decision makers at every level aren’t dealing with one or two policy areas, they are dealing with many, and most of them are urgent, so there’s a competition to get prioritised, and to get resources allocated. Having technical solutions alone does not set you up for political buy-in or implementation – narratives carry things to completion.
Research organisations need to understand incentives better
Many policy organisations put a lot of emphasis on getting the figures right and producing credible analysis. While this is foundational, they should step up to get the message across to different kinds of target groups. Even the smartest policymakers, who understand emissions reduction and its economic benefits, still need to get their peers to come on board and become proponents of an emissions reduction policy. We need narratives that can help them communicate to their peers and the public about why they are taking certain policy actions. If you are going to do that well, you need to understand what the incentive system is for those audiences. Some leaders, for example, think the international stage is as important as the domestic arena, so we can use this as an opportunity to get them to make a commitment and position their country as a positive leader helping the world move in the right direction. You have to make it easy for them to say yes.
Avoid centring campaigns around individual political leaders
A common mistake we see in funding applications is a focus on policy reforms centred around popular political figures or high-ranking officials. While it’s key to have champions to drive change, you must remember that policy change needs much more than popularity and involves not just politicians and ministers. We need to engage bureaucrats because they stay through different transitions. We also need to bring in policy thought-leaders from other relevant sectors and key groups in business and civil society to strengthen our case. The risk with centring policy work around political figures is that their relevance is seasonal. If they are politically sidelined, anything you’ve built with them collapses.
The culture towards communications in policy organisations needs to change
Many policy organisations still focus on research outputs, such as publication and citations, as their main KPI. They restrict themselves from using their work to trigger a wider conversation. But if they can stimulate dialogue and debate, that’s an important milestone – moving from something unknown by the public to something that starts being picked up by the media and becomes part of growing public conversations. Politicians and decision makers read and listen to what is being talked about by the public. Only a few think tanks and research organisations have this understanding and place their analytical work in the policy change spectrum that involves public engagement and advocacy. We are encouraging a change in the wider policy organisations community in Indonesia and that’s part of the reason we’re working with Cast from Clay – because you talk about how a research product is just one of so many opportunities to communicate the message from the research. You also emphasise the importance of non-linearity in research and communication, which is crucial for policy reform work that typically spans multiple years and involves different disciplines and approaches.
The best partners are those with long-term visions, who can show short-term wins
We look for partners with big-picture ideas, who can articulate how change should be achieved over the short, medium, and long-term. Most problems need mid-term and long-term solutions, but funding often comes in shorter periods. So we appreciate it when organisations can explain what they will do in that shorter period, and how it will contribute to that longer-term vision. We understand that it’s not easy for an organisation to link actions over 12 or 24 months to systemic change, but it’s critical for them to articulate that – it’s the first thing we look for. The other thing we look for is collaborative approaches, simply because climate challenges need multi-disciplinary thinking. Nobody can tackle anything alone.
Populism is trending – and we need to be smarter about how we deal with it
Populism has risen globally in recent years. It’s a threat to climate action because typically it comes with anti-science, distrust in expertise, short-termism, and polarisation tactics, among others. Populist leaders often have celebrity personas and use drama to keep the spotlight on themselves. These drama tactics deplete the public’s energy and divert attention away from addressing actual issues. It’s been a decade of this kind of politics now. It’s still a real challenge from a communications perspective on policy reform work. But we have to be smarter about recognising the patterns, separating the drama from the substantive issues, and focusing our response on what really needs to be done.
