Introducing the Centre for Research on Effective Action

Hi everyone,

After a period of scoping, landscape mapping and reflection, since last Tuesday, I’m excited to announce the launch of the Centre for Research on Effective Action.

CREA is a new, independent organisation working to support effective responses to global challenges.

The basic idea is simple. A lot of important research never becomes action. At the same time, a lot of action happens without enough research. And, somewhere in between, quite a lot of research is conducted into why the research hasn’t become an action yet.

We think there is an important gap to consider here.

Our aim is to connect research, evidence and impact by supporting organisations working to improve outcomes across a range of priority areas in a deliberately cause-neutral way, within the causes we expect to prioritise.

Our current tagline is:

Supporting effective responses to global challenges

This went through several iterations, we hope you think it captures our tone, intention and would score highly in a game of Scrabble.

What will we actually do, actually?

This is still being developed, but our initial work will focus on six overlapping commitments:

• Strengthening the conditions needed for long-term capacity.
• Aligning stakeholders around shared approaches and priorities.
• Translating evidence into insights that can inform action.
• Integrating research and practice across relevant contexts.
• Researching scalable approaches to achieving impact at scale.
• Evaluating opportunities for more effective evaluation.

In practical terms, we expect our work to include research, resources, partnerships, convenings and probably a daily newsletter. We are also exploring a pilot project to identify suitable opportunities for future pilot projects.

We don’t want to duplicate existing work: Our intention is to occupy the comparatively neglected space between organisations that produce research, organisations that use research, and organisations that bring together organisations that produce and use research.

Why another organisation?

Fair question.

The short answer is that, during our initial landscape review, we identified a large number of organisations working on important global problems, but none with exactly our name.

Where are we now?

CREA has completed the first and most visible phase of its work.

We have selected a name, approved a visual identity and agreed on a shade of teal. We have also developed a positioning statement broad enough to accommodate any activities we may later decide to undertake.

The next phase will focus on refining our approach to work. Once this foundation is in place, we expect to begin considering what the organisation might actually do and for whom.

Thanks for reading.

Stella Po
Founder and Interim Executive Director
Centre for Research on Effective Action

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1. ^{^}

   This is a companion piece to The EA Bland Book. After a commenter wondered what would happen if someone averaged together the branding of EA organisations, I attempted to produce the resulting organisation.

   What began as a logo and colour palette rapidly acquired a name, a positioning statement, six organisational commitments and an interim executive director.

   So, with that: an announcement from the Centre for Research on Effective Action.