It is now well established that policy processes do not follow an orderly, linear path from conception to appraisal, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Rather, they involve many different sets of actors (Chapter Three) and types of knowledge (Chapter Four) set in varying political contexts (Chapter Two). Determining the different types of interaction between knowledge and policy is therefore a complex process. Within this complexity, we attempt to disentangle the roles of knowledge intermediaries, that is, individuals or organisations that act between the producers and users of knowledge with the intention of improving the supply, demand and use of knowledge and smoothing the path between the two. As this chapter shows, it is not necessary to be badged a knowledge intermediary to act like one. All actors can function as knowledge intermediaries even if they draw on different sources of knowledge and use it at different times in different ways. Meanwhile, any individual or organisation that functions as a knowledge intermediary is not politically neutral. Intentionally or not, they have considerable potential to reconfigure the social and organisational relationships (such as understandings, rules and agreements) that underpin the use of knowledge in support of innovation and change (Leeuwis and Aarts, 2011). A final point is that no two knowledge intermediaries are the same; their work is entirely context-specific, which means that, while it is possible to draw general lessons as to how they could choose to act, it is impossible to develop a standard set of rules as to how they should act.

By the end of this chapter, readers will be able to answer the following questions:

• • What is the definition of a knowledge intermediary?

• • Who can be a knowledge intermediary?

• • What functions can they perform? Which function is appropriate in which situation?

• • Can intermediaries ever be truly neutral? If not, what does this mean for how they work?

• • How can we measure the effect of knowledge intermediaries on policy and practice?

Table 5.1 reviews the roles various actors play at different stages of the policy process, showing that their roles may change through the policy process, as does their need for knowledge.