4th annual GovLabPHL conference connects policy researchers with policymakers

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney speaks at the GovLabPHL conference at Perry World House.

On Friday, January 24, Fels Institute of Government hosted a day-long conference aimed at providing evidence-based insights from social science that could be put to work to benefit the city. The conference, titled “Bridging Evidence and Policy in Philadelphia,” emerged out of the Philadelphia Behavioral Science Initiative and the Mayor’s GovLabPHL initiative, both designed to strengthen the partnership between the local government and academic researchers working in data evaluation and behavioral science.

“Too often, researchers and policymakers can work on the same problem but in very different silos, and the practical knowledge about what actually works in policymaking doesn't make it back to university-based researchers. Through the Philadelphia Behavioral Science Initiative, we've been building a bridge between academic researchers and policymakers to close those gaps,” said Daniel Hopkins, Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at Penn.

The event was moderated by Mariele McGlazer, the city’s GovLabPHL manager and an Executive Master of Public Administration student at Fels. “This was our fourth annual conference, and we were delighted to have another opportunity to invite academics and city workers to share ideas on how to tackle some of our toughest challenges and bring the mayor’s policy priorities into reality,” she said.

Read more about the project in this article from Penn Today.

Photo: Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney speaks at the GovLabPHL conference at Perry World House.

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