Stakeholders from the NIPN platforms in Niger and Ethiopia were panellists presenting at the Mini-symposium on ‘How to enhance the dialogue between research and policy?’ (SYM 2). While the mini-symposium focused on dialogue between research and decision making in nutrition, the sharing of NIPN experiences enabled the perspectives of national implementers and practitioners to be highlighted, while also teasing out commonalities and differences between research and implementation in addressing decision makers’ needs for information and evidence.