Sustainability and the science–policy–practice interface: advancing embedded research at the national government level in South Africa

Abstract Addressing societal challenges such as climate change requires researchers to produce policy-relevant knowledge and the government actors to shift policies towards sustainable practices. This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the role and methodological stances of embedded researchers. Drawing from the broader literature on participant-observer and embedded research, this study examines the contribution of a completely embedded researcher-bureaucrat to the generation and use of policy-relevant knowledge. In this context, an embedded researcher-bureaucrat is a permanent government policy participant who is active in a policymaking institution before intentionally becoming a researcher and who is active in multiple roles simultaneously over time. We focus on an individual case study at the level of the national government in South Africa. The two authors of this study used a single case based on a PhD project of the first author and their public policy experiences. Insider researchers can contribute subtle details to the embedded researcher literature on the evidence‒policy interface, momentous event observations, lived experiences, fostering trust, and methodological criticisms. An embedded researcher-bureaucrat may enjoy exclusive knowledge generation and use in real-world policy dynamics. This reveals the importance of embedded research in government sustainability policy processes. Continued research is necessary on the theory and practice of the embedded researcher-bureaucrat.