The Impact and Learning blog is written by team members and guests of the Impact and Learning Team based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK. The opinions expressed in our blog posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the team or of IDS. About the Impact and Learning Team We are interested in how communication of research brings about change - in particular, what happens when people and technology mediate between researchers and decision makers. We use the term "intermediary" to describe people and technology acting in this way. We think they play a critical role in making knowledge accessible, relevant and responsive to demand. We are exploring and testing this assumption using action research. We support people to think about the difference they want to make as well as how they are going to go about it. We draw insights and approaches from IDS's history of research, and the fields of marketing, strategic planning and evaluation, and capacity development. We work closely with the IDS Knowledge Services and other knowledge-sharing networks, such as AfricaAdapt, the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, and the I-K-Mediary Network.