UofG Centre for Public Policy

11 March 2026: Christina Kopanou, Centre for Public Policy Practice Fellow and Principal Economist in the Glasgow City Council (GCC) Intelligence Hub shares how she used her 2025 Fellowship and collaboration with University of Glasgow researchers to contribute to the GCC Foundational Economy Programme, in particular the Childcare Challenge Fund.

Blog by Christina Kopanou, Principal Economist, Glasgow City Council Intelligence Hub, and Centre for Public Policy 2025 Practice Fellow

My time at the Centre for Public Policy provided a rare opportunity to work at the intersection of academic research and live policy challenges. The Fellowship was on testing ideas in real policy environments and strengthening the evidence base for decision-making in areas that are often under-prioritised.

A defining strand of my Fellowship was contributing to the Glasgow City Council Foundational Economy Programme, particularly the design and evaluation of the Childcare Challenge Fund.

Strengthening the foundational economy

Economic development policy has historically focused on high-growth sectors, inward investment, and productivity in export-facing industries. In contrast, the foundational economy- the everyday services that sustain daily life, such as childcare, social care, utilities, and local services - has often received less strategic attention.

Yet, these sectors are essential to inclusive growth. Accessible childcare, for example, underpins labour market participation, particularly for women; it shapes household income, reduces inequality, and strengthens community wellbeing. Treating childcare as economic infrastructure rather than simply a social service represents an important shift in policy thinking.

The Childcare Challenge Fund was designed to stimulate innovation and expand capacity within Glasgow’s childcare sector. Through the Fellowship, I worked closely with academic colleagues and policy officers at Glasgow City Council to support the Fund’s development, ensuring that its objectives, assessment processes, and evaluation design were grounded in robust evidence.

Designing a robust assessment and evaluation framework

A key part of my work involved collaborating with academic partners at the University of Glasgow to design:

• An assessment framework to evaluate funding applications and ensure alignment with policy goals.
• A comprehensive evaluation methodology to understand the Fund’s impact over time.
• A control trial design, allowing us to better identify causal impacts and move beyond anecdotal evidence.

Using “Most Significant Change” to capture unexpected outcomes

One of the most valuable methodological contributions was incorporating a Most Significant Change (MSC) approach into the evaluation design. This qualitative technique will allow us to capture unexpected outcomes that traditional monitoring frameworks might miss.

Linking policy to skills and innovation support

The Fellowship also facilitated connections with Glasgow City College and the College National Innovation Centres(CLIC) programme,from conversations with University of Glasgow researchers, which is developing bespoke innovation training and support for participating businesses within the Fund. This integration of funding, innovation support, skills development and evaluation created a more holistic model of intervention. Rather than simply distributing grants, the approach builds long-term capacity within the childcare sector.

Learning for other policymakers

One of the most important outcomes of this Fellowship that the tools and frameworks developed can be used by other policymakers. In particular:

• How to design economic development policy for the foundational economy.
• How to build evaluation frameworks that capture systemic change.
• How to incorporate experimental or quasi-experimental design (such as control groups) in local government interventions.
• How to embed learning and adaptation throughout programme delivery.

Concluding thoughts

The Centre for Public Policy Fellowship reinforced several key lessons:

• Evidence and policy must be co-produced. Academic insight is most powerful when embedded in current policy challenges.
• Evaluation design matters from the outset. Building robust frameworks early allows for meaningful impact assessment later.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration is essential to effective policy design.

Author

Christina Kopanou is Principal Economist, Glasgow City Council Intelligence Hub. She is a 2025 Practice Fellow at the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Public Policy.

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About the Practice Fellows Scheme 

The Centre for Public Policy Practice Fellows programme connects policy professionals with University of Glasgow researchers to explore evidence-led solutions to real-world policy challenges. Fellows engage in short-term collaboration to investigate pressing questions from their roles and contribute to knowledge exchange between academic and practice. 

This ESRC-funded initiative supports up to six Fellows annually from governments, the voluntary sector and beyond. 

Applications will reopen in Spring 2026. Sign up to the Centre for Public Policy mailing list to hear when the call opens.

First published: 11 March 2026