Decolonizing Evidence-Informed Policy and Development Interventions : A Diversity of Knowledge Sources as a Hallmark of Effective Development Initiatives and Healthy Policymaking

Too often, evidence-informed policy and development intervention discussions focus only on scientific knowledge as a tool to assist in policy processes and intervention design. As part of decolonizing evidence-informed policymaking, this article focuses on the importance of knowledge diversity in policymaking in public policy and development initiatives as demonstrated by case studies from Indonesia. This paper identifies three forms of knowledge that create inclusive evidence to inform public policy and development programs: scientific knowledge, professional knowledge, and local knowledge. It examines the direct influence of local knowledge as well as the co-creation of evidence using knowledge from other forms–scientific and professional. It also illustrates key factors in the mechanisms that support the use of local knowledge, and the challenges in carrying them over to implementation. We argue that a diversity of knowledge sources is an essential ingredient to decolonization and is a hallmark of effective development initiatives and healthy policymaking. We also recommend that one way to improve policy effectiveness is by embracing knowledge diversity, using all three types of knowledge: local knowledge for context, indigenous worldviews, and political capital; bureaucratic knowledge related to feasibility and implementation mechanisms; and scientific knowledge for legitimacy and technical appropriateness