Never mind the policymakers, a more nuanced understanding of the diverse roles in change processes is required

Funding bids, blogs, academic papers, and policy briefs are awash with references to the "policymaker" as the primary audience for research and evidence. But this term means very little when you consider the diversity of policy actors, practitioners, donors, and activists. James Georgalakis argues researchers need to acquire a more nuanced understanding of their audiences' diverse roles in change processes. Rather than becoming preoccupied with policymakers, focus might instead shift to building the capacity of knowledge intermediaries whose role it is to identify, assess, and repackage evidence for a range of audiences.