Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation

Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation
Name	Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation
Formation	2010s
Type	Research institute
Headquarters	London
Leader title	Director

Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation.

The Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation is an interdisciplinary research institute focused on applying empirical methods to social policy, program design, and community development. It connects scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to translate findings into scalable interventions and practice. The Centre engages with international funders, academic networks, and municipal partners to implement randomized trials, quasi-experimental studies, and mixed-methods evaluations.

History

The Centre was founded amid debates that engaged World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations Development Programme, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Wellcome Trust stakeholders seeking more rigorous evidence in social interventions. Early collaborators included researchers from London School of Economics, University of Oxford, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and University College London. Initial projects drew on methodological precedents set by James Heckman, Angus Deaton, Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee, and Michael Kremer while interacting with policy agendas from Department for International Development (United Kingdom), European Commission, and National Institutes of Health. Over time the Centre expanded links with local authorities such as Greater London Authority, municipal partners like City of Toronto, and development actors including Oxfam, Save the Children, and CARE International.

Mission and Objectives

The Centre’s mission aligns with priorities advocated by World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund, Global Partnership for Education, GAVI, and International Labour Organization to improve outcomes using evidence-based interventions. Objectives include testing scalable models championed by figures associated with Nesta, Carnegie UK Trust, Rockefeller Foundation, and Ford Foundation; producing policy briefs used by Parliament of the United Kingdom, European Parliament, and US Congress committees; and training practitioners connected to Teach First, Teach For America, British Red Cross, and Action for Children.

Research and Programs

Workstreams include randomized controlled trials informed by scholars from MIT, Princeton University, Stanford University, Yale University, and Columbia University; qualitative inquiry drawing on traditions from Max Weber and Pierre Bourdieu-influenced scholars; and implementation science aligned with National Health Service pilots. Programs have addressed topics in partnership with agencies like UNICEF, UN Women, World Food Programme, and International Rescue Committee. The Centre has run demonstration projects with municipal partners such as City of Melbourne, City of Johannesburg, New York City, and Seattle while disseminating toolkits used by Red Cross, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch affiliates.

Methodologies and Approaches

Methodological approaches combine experimental designs popularized by Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences laureates, quasi-experimental techniques applied in studies from RAND Corporation and Institute for Fiscal Studies, and participatory methods used by Community Development Foundation practitioners. Analytic toolkits reference protocols from CONSORT, PRISMA, and standards promoted by Cochrane Collaboration and Campbell Collaboration. The Centre integrates data science partnerships with teams from Google DeepMind, Microsoft Research, OpenAI, and IBM Research for causal inference, privacy-preserving analytics, and machine learning applications in field settings.

Partnerships and Collaborations

The Centre maintains formal collaborations with universities such as University of Manchester, University of Edinburgh, King's College London, Brown University, and University of Toronto; think tanks including Institute for Fiscal Studies, Brookings Institution, Chatham House, RAND Corporation, and Center for Global Development; and philanthropic networks like Wellcome Trust, Gates Cambridge Trust, and Schmidt Futures. Memoranda of understanding with international agencies—United Nations, World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund—enable large-scale evaluations. Corporate partners have included philanthropic arms of Alphabet Inc., Facebook (Meta Platforms), and Amazon (company) for data infrastructure and applied research.

Impact and Evaluation

Impact assessments reference outcome frameworks used by Global Partnership for Social Accountability, Sustainable Development Goals, Millennium Development Goals, and monitoring approaches advocated by OECD Development Assistance Committee. Major evaluated programs reported improvements in indicators used by Department for Education (England), Public Health England, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes of Health. Independent reviews by National Audit Office (United Kingdom), UK Research and Innovation, and peer reviewers from Nature (journal), The Lancet, Science (journal), and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences have scrutinized the Centre’s methods and reported lessons for scale-up and replication.

Governance and Funding

Governance structures mirror models used by Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and university research centres linked to University of Oxford and Harvard Kennedy School. Advisory boards have included senior figures from World Bank Group, IMF, European Investment Bank, and former ministers from Cabinet of the United Kingdom and Government of Canada. Funding streams combine grants from UK Research and Innovation, philanthropic gifts from Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation, competitive awards from Horizon 2020, National Institutes of Health, and contracts with municipal entities such as Greater London Authority and City of Los Angeles.

Category:Research institutes