In conclusion, the findings suggest that the Platform and the Council can jointly act as sort of knowledge brokers. On the one hand, by organizing events, they can act as linking agents between experts working on statelessness, thereby facilitating the flow of information and the exchange of ideas (e.g. Kislov et al., 2017). On the other hand, they can serve as crucial intermediaries between experts specializing in the field, who have deep and technical insights, and policymakers, who need expert evidence to inform decisionmaking processes. The expert knowledge is gathered by the EMN and COE and transformed into easily understandable evidence that is presented to policymakers. However, it was also noted that the Platform's impact on policymaking remains limited, beyond raising awareness and showcasing good practices in the hope that Member States will be inspired, as statelessness is not an EU competence and the EMN's mandate on statelessness is limited to data collection and exchange (interviewee 11). Part 5: Conclusion and Recommendations: EMN Platform on Statelessness Part 4 addressed the questions of • What are evidence needs and gaps in knowledge expressed by stakeholders? • How does the Platform contribute to evidence engagement on statelessness? Interview findings showed that evidence needs and gaps in knowledge were not uniform across stakeholders. However, interviewees expressed a certain need for expert knowledge over, for instance, theoretical academic insights on statelessness. In addition, one gap in knowledge identified in the interviews is the need to have better data on the number of stateless people residing in Europe, which would require, among others, to have standardized statelessness determination procedures in Member States. Lastly, regarding evidence needs, a slight gap between academic research and practice could be identified, which appears to be based on the perception that academic research is not always as relevant to advance the efforts of actors working in the field. In terms of evidence engagement, the Platform can, oftentimes in collaboration with other stakeholders, raise awareness of the issue of statelessness, which is an issue that is frequently under politicians’ radar. In addition, in line with what has been found for the EMN in general, the Platform acts as a knowledge broker, facilitating information exchange by collecting, synthesizing, and disseminating information on statelessness, as well as providing a platform for exchange and networking among stakeholders (e.g., Kislov et al., 2017). Moreover, interviews showed that the EMN, in cooperation with actors such as the Council of Europe, can bridge the gap between experts in the field and policymakers by transferring knowledge between the two communities. This seems to be a promising approach to bringing evidence to the policy level. 31