During September 2022, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has published the three external expert reports that assess the science-for-policy ecosystems of France, Greece, and Portugal in their local language, after having been published some of them in English a few months ago.
In principle, the application of available scientific evidence to policy making should improve its quality. As normative values and political judgements often also play a key role in decision making, this implies that evidence informs policy instead of determining it. In this context, the subject of the following study is the role of evidence in…
This report sets out a conceptual map for potential elements of a science-for-policy advisory ecosystem. The aim of this map is not to propose an ideal system, but rather to highlight how elements need to connect with each other at multiple levels; to allow us to ask how all involved in evidence production, mobilisation and…
Abstract: Evaluating the potential impacts of each policy on all sustainability dimensions (economic, social and environmental), as captured in the UN SDGs and their targets, requires system thinking and shifting away from single disciplinary projects towards multi- and inter- disciplinary approaches that recognize complexities and acknowledge uncertainties. Modelling is an essential tool to increase the…
Abstract:The broad scope and complexity of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) constitute a new challenge for policy. The identification of effective implementation strategies would need to be supported by coordinated policies that take into account the multiple relationships existing between the different dimensions of sustainability. This report proposes an original method to identify and deal…
A Royal Society of Canada Position Paper Executive Summary: We live in an epoch of human history when social, technological and environmental changes are accelerating in ways that increase exponentially the complexity of policy-making and regulation. It is therefore more urgent than ever for governments to obtain sound expert advice before acting, especially in formulating…
Evidence synthesis supports well-founded policymaking and public debate. The common question ‘What is the evidence for that?’ could be usefully rephrased as ‘Has sufficient synthesis of the evidence been done in relation to that?’. While typically asked in the former way, it is really the latter that is of interest. Across disciplines and policy areas…
Around the world, we are seeing increases in domestic and international investment, recognition in the SDGs of the importance of research and information for sustainable development at a global level, and governments increasingly valuing local research expertise to inform national development. In all four of VakaYiko’s core countries (Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe) there…
This report discusses the use of research-based evidence in policymaking. It is based on interviews with six ministries/directorates general in the UK, Netherlands, Finland and the European Commission and forms part of a larger project of the Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy (DFiR), which aims to study and improve Danish practice. Historically, the…
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