evalusoef

Program

Structure of the conference

June 15th, 2009

13.00 – 15.00 Opening of the conference

"Understanding Sustainability Evaluation and its Contribution to Policy-making"

Keynotes and Panel Discussion

15:00 – 15:30 Coffee break

15.30 – 17.30 Working group session I

June 16th, 2009

09.00 – 11.00 Working group session II

11:00-11:30 Coffee break

11.30 – 13.30 Working group session III

13:30 – 14:30 Buffet Lunch

14.30 – 16.30 Closing session

”Increasing the Usefulness of Sustainability Evaluation”
Roundtable Discussion with

16.30 Closing remarks and farewell



Working groups

WG 1: Defining Sustainable Development as an Evaluation Object

It is not only within different DGs of the European Commission that there are diverse interpretations of the concept ”sustainable development”. This problem continues at different political and spatial levels. The workshop deals with the challenge of equivocal sustainability definitions. What are the consequences of diverse interpretations of sustainability and a non-existent common framework to evaluate sustainability? How can evaluators measure sustainability impacts without a common understanding? What indicators are appropriate for measuring sustainability impacts? How can evaluation results be most relevant to policy-makers? How do policy-makers deal with the diverging interpretations of sustainable development in evaluation reports?

Chair: Dr. Bernd Hirschl, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin



WG 2: Methodological Challenges in Evaluating Sustainable Development

The concept of sustainable development poses methodological challenges such as integrating stakeholders, taking-up a long-term perspective, or looking at a global scale. How can these be addressed in evaluation designs? What general methodological requirements should be fulfilled by sustainability evaluations? Which methodological requirements result from political practice? How can methodological challenges be integrated into political decision making?

Chair: Dr. Arthur Petersen, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven/The Hague



WG 3: Politics, Policy Styles and Evaluation

Different countries have different political cultures and policy styles. This is not surprising – but what does that mean for evaluations? What role do different (political) cultures play in the evaluation context – for the evaluator, the evaluandum and decision makers? The aim of this workshop is to discuss different policy styles and their effect on evaluations. Which evaluation approaches ”fit most” to different policy styles? What conditions must exist in order for countries to learn from each other? What is the experience regarding sustainability evaluations outside Europe?

Chair: Esther Hoffmann, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin



WG 4: Methods for Evaluating Sustainable Development

Sustainability evaluation uses both conventional and innovative methods. The aim of this workshop is to discuss new approaches and methods applied in sustainability evaluations. Promising methods could be qualitative participatory approaches, systemic evaluation, scenario techniques, etc. or new developments in quantitative techniques including CBA, CEA, multi-criteria-analysis or non-market valuations. Moreover, the integration of different methods in evaluation projects, especially the combination of quantitative and qualitative or participatory and modelling tools should be addressed. Contributions should focus on ease of application, suitability in policy advice, and strengths and weaknesses of the presented methods.

Chair: Benjamin Görlach, Ecologic Institute, Berlin



WG 5: Integrated Approaches in Evaluating Sustainable Development

The ideal type of sustainability evaluation integrates all three dimensions of the concept – ecology, economics and social issues. But how can this be done adequately? And what does "adequately" mean? Since 2005, the European Commission has stressed the need to investigate (non-) intended positive and negative side-effects of a policy proposal. What does that mean for integrated approaches? What are the problems arising out of this request? This workshop will have a closer look at integrated approaches to sustainability evaluation, including methods, problems and premises. It will also address the question of how policy-makers can include integrated results in policy-making.

Chair: Anneke von Raggamby, Ecologic Institute, Berlin



WG 6 a: Science Policy Interface

Aiming to inform decision-makers on the potential impacts of their decisions, evaluations are at the heart of the interface of science and policy. Therefore, they are predestined to make science relevant for policy-making. However this interaction is not always as effective as desired. The workshop deals with the question of how evaluation results resonate in political practice. Do political actors consider evaluation results in decision making processes? Do evaluations foster policy learning? How does policy learning proceed? How can this be measured? Did the introduction of Impact Assessments in the European Union change the policy-making process?

Chair: R. Andreas Kraemer, Ecologic Institute, Berlin



WG 6 b: Science Policy Interface

Aiming to inform decision-makers on the potential impacts of their decisions, evaluations are at the heart of the interface of science and policy. Therefore, they are predestined to make science relevant for policy-making. However this interaction is not always as effective as desired. The workshop deals with the question of how evaluation results resonate in political practice. Do political actors consider evaluation results in decision making processes? Do evaluations foster policy learning? How does policy learning proceed? How can this be measured? Did the introduction of Impact Assessments in the European Union change the policy-making process?

Chair: R. Andreas Kraemer, Ecologic Institute, Berlin



WG 7: Integrated Approaches in Evaluating Regional Sustainable Development

The ideal type of sustainability evaluation integrates all three dimensions of the concept – ecology, economics and social issues. But how can this be done adequately? And what does "adequately" mean? Since 2005, the European Commission has stressed the need to investigate (non-) intended positive and negative side-effects of a policy proposal. What does that mean for integrated approaches? What are the problems arising out of this request? This workshop will have a closer look at integrated approaches to sustainability evaluation, including methods, problems and premises. It will also address the question of how policy-makers can include integrated results in policy-making.

Chair: Anneke von Raggamby, Ecologic Institute, Berlin



WG 8: Institutionalisation of Sustainability Evaluation

To date, policy evaluations have often been applied in an ad hoc and unsystematic way. The consideration of sustainability aspects throughout the policy cycle needs stronger institutionalisation. This workshop aims at discussing adequate structures and institutional settings. What does experience show with institutionalisation of evaluations? How can learning loops between different evaluations be organised? What capacities are necessary on the side of the commissioning agents regarding the monitoring of an evaluation? A discussion about different levels and forms of institutionalisation and their impact on evaluation results and quality can also be part of this workshop.

Chair: Dr. Frieder Rubik, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Heidelberg