This paper is motivated by the idea that the study of the interplay of research and policy related to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in specific national contexts can contribute to global conversations about the relationships between education research and policy-making. It is written by two individuals who have been involved in various roles within the development of ESD research and policy in Cyprus. The study involved thematic analysis of all ESD policy and research documents in Cyprus from 1998 and 2017, in order to examine interactions between research and policy. Findings suggest that ESD research and policy in Cyprus empower each other, with researchers participating to on-going policy development and policy processes highlighting new directions for research. Based on these findings, we discuss the effectiveness of a participatory model for ESD research and policy processes, and the importance of situations where education policy interrupts established research traditions. Further, we highlight the danger of research being suppressed under the power of politics. We conclude that the study of the development of ESD research and policy in specific national contexts, especially beyond Western Europe and North America, can reveal the varied possibilities in the interplay of policy and research, and therefore can inform understandings of the relationships between them.