Bootcamp: Religion + Policy (25–26 June 2025) was convened at the Faculty of Divinity with a cohort ranging from MPhil students through to postdoctoral scholars.
Bootcampers included researchers based in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, History, Law, and Sociology as well as Divinity. The event spanned two days. The lead convenor Dr Iona Hine was present throughout, and two Divinity colleagues sat in on the celebratory finale.
This event report outlines the different sessions, and hints at the scale of applied learning available.
Getting to know the policy landscape
The Bootcamp kicked off with a presentation from Nicky Buckley and Christian Neubacher from the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP).
The CSaP-led session was intended to lay a common foundation for thinking about policy influence. Bootcampers could no longer conflate policy and politics, or parliament with government. The session also covered specific opportunities, including the UK Areas of Research Interest database and similar regional initiatives, and Overton, a searchable index of policy documents, guidelines, think tank publications and working papers.
The session included a first iteration of stakeholder mapping, a key task for any researcher seeking to influence policy. Bootcampers were also introduced to key CSaP initiatives including Policy Fellowships, workshops, and the Policy Engagement Network (open to Cambridge researchers). It was a comprehensive introduction, flagging a full range of opportunities including public appointments, or writing in The Conversation’s policy-shaping strand.
Religion & policy case studies
The next two sessions drew in two academics with a proven track record of policy influence. Blending a mix of experience and expertise, Prof Joe Webster and Dr Sara Silvestri looked back at their earliest policy interactions. Each had begun pursuing a line of research that gained policy relevance—in Webster’s case, this helped change a controversial Scottish law, while in Silvestri’s it prompted substantive engagement with European policy.
Webster is now involved with the internal processes of impact tracking and acceleration, as a key member of the Faculty of Divinity’s REF committee. UK universities undergo a periodic review of research quality, with attention to publications, the research environment, and any societal benefits. This assessment (“the REF”) affects the distribution of funding and is an important exercise. Webster emphasised how generating a clear and compelling impact case study could help scholars secure long-term academic employment.
Silvestri has woven a career between policy and academic spaces. Drawn into policy conversations because she had begun researching Muslim women’s experiences in the early 2000s, her networks and expertise enabled her to win commissions and build initiatives. Among significant successes, her collaborations with Peter Mandaville have generated international recognition for including religion as a consideration in development policy.
At a practical level, Silvestri’s session highlighted many of the portals that facilitate international policy engagement, including EU and UN bodies. Written highlights are available to Research Forum members on request.
Application
As day one drew to a close, bootcampers were asked to either continue their stakeholder mapping or sketch an outline for a policy brief. For the latter task, a repurposed Chatham House template for media briefings helped focus attention.
Day 2 began with a review of individual work and roundtable discussion, indicating good strategies to build on the initial work. These tasks also helped to secure meaningful mentor pairings for the afternoon.
Honing communication skills
Building on sessions previously delivered for postdoc scholars on a Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation-sponsored scheme, Dr Iona Hine provided some highly practical tips on how to communicate with policy audiences. This included some general observations about good writing—being attentive to sentence length, avoiding unnecessary jargon, and so on.
Hine also encouraged everyone to think about accessibility. Examples included employing Styles to format documents, avoiding block capitals, and ensuring link text is meaningful—including for those reliant on screen-reading software.
Taking care to connect
Balancing out the academic input, Molly Conrad gave a presentation that attended to two different contexts: her current role as Public Affairs lead with the Good Faith Partnership, and her previous work with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Conrad emphasised the transactional nature of impacting policy: who do you need to influence, and what do they need? This can be as simple as keeping in mind a politician’s need to keep their public profile positive.
Importantly, Conrad reminded bootcampers that there are intermediary stakeholders including thinktanks and other NGOs who may be ready to engage with research findings, and have the networks to advocate effectively for relevant change.
The start of the adventure
Bootcampers had been encouraged to work individually or collaboratively on a briefing or to identify the next steps in their own policy-shaping journey. All the delivery team made themselves available as mentors, with additional input from Esther Platt (a colleague of Molly’s at the Good Faith Partnership), Phil Champain (concluding his decade as Director of the Faith & Belief Forum), and Dr Mohammed Ahmed (who was preparing to take on a new policy role with the Woolf Institute).
As the two-day camp drew to a close with a celebration, survivors took it in turns to reflect on the experience. Reflecting on the process of self-discovery, one camper shared “You can't have any impact if you don't take a little risk... and problem solve and troubleshoot as you go along.” Another valued chance to take stock as their line of research became newsworthy—who might be an ideal audience to share something meaningful with?
The delivery team also learned from the experience, and were keen to impart a few final lessons: Don’t underestimate your expertise, be ready to parcel up your knowledge, and there may be grief before there’s gain—to share a few examples.
Learning through iteration
Campers were surveyed on their experience, as were members of the delivery team. Respondents were unanimous that there is a benefit to such tailored engagement: a policy bootcamp would not have the same value as a religion-and-policy bootcamp.
This was a first run and feedback included some relevant suggestions about what could be enhanced: including impact case studies and more mentors from minority faith communities, for example. There was also a request to consider whether shorter days might be feasible (in consideration of caring responsibilities, for example).
Ahead of the event, there had been a couple of enquiries from outside Cambridge, and the possibility of delivering a future event in partnership could be explored. On the possibility of involving practitioners as bootcampers, there was some equivocation. Such a step would warrant careful consideration, as researchers face specific challenges.
If case studies of successful policy engagement often begin with happenstance, is that because few religion specialists seek to impact policy? Perhaps.
Equally, quirky stories with very immediate policy impacts are easy to relay compared with the messier, long-term labour of intentional influence. Granted a sustained take on the range of opportunities ahead, Bootcampers also headed off with tips and tools to sustain them en route to meaningful impact—and the pledge of further support as and when needed.
Further reading and resources
Areas of Research Interest database (ari.org.uk): featuring topics and issues of known government interest.
Apply for public appointments (via gov.uk): current vacancies for chairs, trustees, and other roles on public bodies.
CSaP Policy Engagement Network (via csap.cam.ac.uk): open to Cambridge researchers.
Zoe Smith captures Webster’s policy impact case study (cam.ac.uk, 2022).
Additional links are available in the CSaP slidepack (shared on request).
EU, UN and other relevant portals are documented in Silvestri’s session follow-up (shared on request)
All slidepacks remain available for Bootcampers to consult.