Mark Rickinson is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. His work is focused on understanding and improving the use of research in education policy and practice.Marcia McKenzie is Professor of Global Studies and International Education in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education in Melbourne, Australia. She works in critical policy studies, including in relation to sustainability and climate change education.

• 1. Introducing the complexities of the research-policy relationship 2. Understanding the research-policy relationship: insights from the critical policy and evidence use literatures 3. The changing and complex entanglements of research and policy making in education: issues for environmental and sustainability education 4. A reflection on the relational aspects of research policy interfaces 5. Understanding policymakers’ perspectives on evidence use as a mechanism for improving research-policy relationships 6. Environment and sustainability education research as policy engagement: (re-)invigorating ‘politics as potentia’ in South Africa 7. Reflections on the science–policy interface within education for sustainable development in Germany 8. Colombia’s national policy of environmental education: a critical discourse analysis 9. Improving policy through research-practice partnerships: Reflections and analysis from New York City 10. Sustainability education research and policy in Cyprus: an investigation into their roles and relationships