Impact Roadmaps in SEA DREAM: From project plan to long-term change

A funded research project is, by design, finite. It has a start date, an end date, defined activities, and a set budget. Yet the change it sets in motion: better policy, stronger system and healthier populations, to an extent, are far beyond that scope.

An impact roadmap is akin to an actual roadmap, where you and your consortium need to plan pitstops, refueling, emergency contacts, and sightseeing before reaching the final destination.

Your impact roadmap, in essence, should identify the main impact, outcomes, outputs, and targets, while ensuring clarity, logical flow, measurable indicators, and contingency plans such as SMART criteria and project design.

A well articulated impact roadmap should strengthen your proposal, highlighting how it can lead to long-term impact beyond milestones, and demonstrates your consortium’s confidence in navigating both intended and unintended outcomes. 

You are not required to submit a separate Impact Roadmap as part of your DREAM 4 Health Application, however you are asked to describe your pathway to impact within your proposal and ‘Impactful Research’ is a key evaluation category. You may use Wellcome’s Guidance on Impact Roadmaps for the development of your proposal, do support your thinking on the impact of narrative, theory of change, and log frame. 

Additionally, we have compiled a collection bringing together international frameworks, guidelines, and tools focusing on the practical issues researchers tend to ask themselves when shaping their proposals: Library for Engaged Research Practice.