Partners - IVM
Profile
The Institute for Environmental Studies (Instituut voor Milieuvraagstukken, IVM) is the oldest environmental research institute in the Netherlands. Since its creation in 1971, IVM has built up considerable experience in dealing with the complexities of environmental problems. Its purpose is to contribute to sustainable development and the rehabilitation and preservation of the environment through academic research and training. The institute has repeatedly been evaluated as the best Dutch research group in this field.
IVM’s research community of about 100 scientists and support staff addresses challenging environmental problems and offers both pragmatic and innovative solutions. Since 2001 IVM has been a part of the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit. The institute has four departments: Biology and Chemistry, Economics and Technology, Environmental Policy Analysis, and Spatial Analysis and Decision Support. Given the multidisciplinary approach typical for IVM, most of its projects include researchers from more than one department.
Project references
Evaluating Integrated Impact Assessments (EVIA)Impact Assessment (IA) aims to support the policy process by informing decision makers, stimulating interdisciplinary cooperation, and supporting early consultation between different administrations and with stakeholders. However, IA may also have undesirable effects on the regulatory process, for example by enabling early lobbying activities, by delaying decisions, or by legitimising decisions that were not open to a public debate. One of the key challenges of IA is that it combines a number of different functions –analysis, transparency, participation, and integration – between which there may be tensions. Furthermore, IA encounters particular methodological challenges where new approaches to regulation are concerned. In this context, EVIA evaluates the use of IA procedures. It will be analysed if IA is an effective and efficient approach to committing regulatory units to generic objectives such as the improvement of competitiveness, the integration of environmental concerns or the consideration of social aspects. This includes the analysis of the question of the effect of IA procedures on actual policy decisions. The research will explore the institutional factors of successful IA, and which tools and methods have been proven to be useful. To determine the conditions for successful IA the project will 1) develop a framework to assess the quality of IAs; 2) study different approaches to IA in different countries regarding their institutional, procedural and substantial requirements and the use of tools and methods on different types of regulations; and 3) conduct a survey on a large number of IAs for an empirical validation of the case study results. As a result, good practices will be identified with regard to institutional procedures (e.g. help desks, manuals, mechanisms of quality control) and to the use of methods and tools for IA in different institutional settings. It will be assessed which approaches are best suited for different types of regulations.
ADaptation And Mitigation Strategies for European Climate Change (ADAM)
Funded by the European Commission and co-ordinated by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in the UK, ADAM (Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies: supporting European climate policy) is an integrated research project running from 2006 to 2009 that will lead to a better understanding of the trade-offs and conflicts that exist between adaptation and mitigation policies. ADAM will support EU policy development in the next stage of the development of the Kyoto Protocol and will inform the emergence of new adaptation strategies for Europe.
Publications
Relevant staff
Eric Massey, ResearcherUdo Pesch, Researcher
Constanze Haug, Researcher
