On 25 June 2026, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) organised a conference entitled, Strengthening the Impact of Research and Data on Policy Development. Invited to present on the work of the previously NORF-funded Criminal Justice Open Research Dialogue (CORD) Partnership, CORD’s chair, Dr. Ian Marder, discussed how research-policy-practice partnerships can use dialogue to build understanding and relationships between researchers, policymakers and practitioners, supporting greater research collaboration and translation as part of open research goals. He shared the mechanisms and models which partnerships can use to structure this work, including relational and design practices and communities of practice. He concluded that there should be dedicated resources for each social policy domain to create and sustain the social infrastructure that helps us use research evidence to achieve positive social change and a culture of interdisciplinary open research.