Pathway to Impact statements were a mandatory section of UKRI grant applications from 2009 until 2020, when they were replaced by integrated impact considerations in the application narrative. The concept persists across funder requirements globally: a pathway statement identifies likely beneficiaries, planned engagement activities, intermediate milestones, and the assumed mechanisms linking research outputs to societal effects. Pathways differ from theories of change by being more activity-specific and time-bound.
References
- UKRI guidance on impact (historical). NESTA 'Innovating for impact' 2020.