Call for papers
WHEN: Monday 13 June 2016
WHERE: Institut d’études europénnes, Université
Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
DEADLINE
FOR SUBMISSION: 12 May 2016 (extended deadline)
The
Cohesion Policy has had a major influence on shaping
regional policy of EU member states in terms of governance,
practices and funding: the implementation of this policy has
been (and still is) a major challenge for policymakers,
mainly considering the European need to recover from the
crisis. Since many years, many research and evaluation have
been carried out to assess implementation and impacts of the
Cohesion Policy using different methodologies and
approaches. In the 2014-2020 programming period, evaluation
is a corner-stone of the new result-orientation proposed by
the EU Commission; however, many concerns are emerging about
different local capacities in implementing the Cohesion
Policy.
Against
this background, the seminar invites contributions
presenting lessons learnt from the implementation and
evaluation of the Cohesion Policy. These ‘lessons’ have to
be ‘policy-oriented’ to further improve policymaking across
Europe. The workshop outcome will be a ‘book of lessons
learnt’ to contribute to the debate on the Cohesion Policy.
After the workshop, selected articles will be collected in
an eBook (with presentations and short articles) to be
disseminated to the policymaking community and online. For
this reason, contributions have to be policy-oriented and
will be discussed with key-policymakers in Brussels.
This
workshop is promoted by the RSA
Research Network on EU Cohesion Policy and hosted by CEVIPOL
and the Institut d’Etudes
européennes of the Université Libre de Bruxelles
(ULB).
Speakers
are invited to present their contribution to
key-policymakers in Brussels. The following discussants have
accepted our invitation and will act as discussants during
the workshop:
- Peter BERKOWITZ (EU Commission, DG-Regio),
- Mathieu FICHTER (Member of the Creţu's Cabinet),
- Andrea MAIRATE (EU Commission, DG-Regio),
- Jan OLBRYCHT (MEP, EPP),
- Wolfgang PETZOLD (Committee of the Regions),
- Magdalena SAPALA (European Parliamentay Research
Service),
- Monika VANA (MEP, Greens/EFA).
1. Learning from the evaluation
of the implementation and impacts of EU cohesion policy
What
lessons can be drawn from practices of evaluation and
implementation of EU Cohesion Policy? This is a more
“reflexive” strand looking at evaluation plans, operational
programmes and their underlying rationales looking for more
general implications. Furthermore, the actual application of
evaluations’ results on strategic aim and practice of the EU
Cohesion Policy in EU member states will be discussed. This
strand aims to cope with lessons learnt (and how to learnt)
from the evaluation practice and EU Cohesion Policy ability
to react to economic crisis, unemployment and public budget
constraints.
2. Programming processes of
evaluation: how to promote policy learning?
This
second strands look mainly to current practices oriented
towards strengthening of monitoring data quality,
accessibility of statistical data beyond the EU Cohesion
Policy implementation system for evaluation purposes,
involvement of partners and stakeholders (participative
evaluations), capacity building on both demand (Managing
Authorities) and supply (independent evaluators) side. The
objective is to discuss how evaluation practices can be
conceived as processes of policy learning to maximize policy
learning considering different purposes and actors involved
(civil servants, politicians, academic experts, consultants,
public opinion, etc.).
3. Evaluation techniques
How
to improve relevance of evaluations according to the type of
intervention? What methods are appropriate to evaluate EU
Cohesion Policy? This third strand focuses on evaluation
techniques and their transfer to and from other policies
(e.g. official development assistance). The quality of
evaluations and standards applied for them become a
cornerstone to successful evaluations. Moreover, the emerging trends will be
discussed as well as new methods for policymaking based on
‘behavioural insights’ will be introduced. The goal is to
discuss different ‘tools’ in relationship to their capacity
to promote, facilitate and enhance policy learning.
We
invite research-based contributions with clear policy
implications that explore one or more of the above themes.
All interested researchers, PhD students and practitioners
are invited to submit their expression of interested by
email to Nicola Francesco Dotti [log in to unmask]
The
expression of interest should include a presentation of
maximum 5 slides, an abstract of about 500 words and a short
bio with full contact details of the Author(s). The
expression of interest should:
-
put
the policy issue in wider context,
-
briefly
outline theoretical background and methodology,
-
clearly
explain policy lessons learnt that can be generalized in the
framework of the Cohesion Policy.
The
workshop is conceived as an opportunity to present
research-based contributions and discuss policy relevant
lessons learnt with policymakers. The aim is to contribute
in bridging the gap between research and policymaking. The
workshop will be also the opportunity to develop a
policy-oriented eBook that the Research Network will
disseminate in the policymaking community. The invited
participants and presenters will be asked to strictly follow
these steps.
Deadline |
What
to do |
Notes |
12 May 2016 |
Expression of
interest - presentation (max 5
slides) - abstract (max 500
words) - short bio (2-3 lines
per each author) |
|
25 May 2016 |
Materials to be
presented - Presentation using
the RSA-CP format (max 5 slides) - Complete article
(max 3,000 words) |
This version will be
circulated only among participants and discussant. Both presentation
and complete article are mandatory. Once accepted, the
organizers will provide a PowerPoint template to be
used by all presenters. |
13 June 2016 |
Workshop in Brussels |
Each presenter will
have 15 minutes to present policy lessons to be
discussed with policymakers. |
27 June 2016 |
Materials to be
published - Final Presentation
and article to be published. |
|
15 July 2016 |
The organizing
committee will publish an eBook with all slides and
short articles to be disseminated with policymakers.
All materials will be published online on the
Research Network website, publicly available. The
Research Network is committed to disseminate
materials to Brussels policymakers. |
The
workshop on Monday
13 June 2016 will start at 10 AM and end by 7 PM. It
will begin with keynote talks followed by presentations from
speakers. The participation is mandatory to be included in
the final publication. Presentations will be grouped
depending on thematic coherence. Each of the sessions will
include discussants (academics and policymakers) leading the
debates and providing the Authors with feedback on their
research.
-
Participation
in the event is free of charge.
-
The
workshop will take place at the Institut d’Etudes
européennes de l’Université libre de Bruxelles, Avenue F.D.
Roosevelt, 39 1050 Bruxelles (Spaak Room)
-
Lunch,
refreshments and beverages will be provided and the
participants will be invited for an apero closing the
workshop.
-
Thanks
to the financial support from the RSA we will be able to
offer several travel bursaries for attending the workshop.
Bursaries will be offered on a ‘first come, first served
basis.’ If you wish to apply for a bursary or if you have
any questions regarding your eligibility, please contact
Marcin Dąbrowski: [log in to unmask].
Please note that bursaries can only be offered to
participants who are members of the RSA and fulfil one of
the following eligibility criteria:
o are student or early career
members of RSA,
o are associate (retired)
members of RSA,
o are RSA member working in a
Band B, C or D country (see attachment for more information)
For
any other inquiries please contact the local organizers of
the workshop,
Dr.
Nicola Francesco Dotti: [log in to unmask]
The
Regional Studies Association (RSA) Research Network on EU
Cohesion Policy aims at providing a forum for debating EU
cohesion policy, its effectiveness, impacts, paradoxes, and
its future. Through the organization of a number of highly
successful international workshops since 2011 and of several
special sessions at the RSA conferences, the Network has
succeeded in bringing together academics investigating EU
cohesion policy as well as practitioners working with this
policy at the EU, national and regional levels. The
workshops addressed the key issues structuring the debate on
the assessment of the effectiveness and impacts of EU
cohesion policy as well as its reforms. The Network has
created numerous opportunities for inspiring exchanges of
ideas, has helped to foster new research collaborations and
has led to joint publications.
Drawing
on this experience, the Network continues promoting research
on EU cohesion policy and fruitful dialogue between
academics and practitioners with the aim to contribute to
the on-going debates on the effects and the future of this
policy.
Nicola Francesco DOTTI (Cosmopolis, VUB), Fanny
SBARAGLIA (CEVIPOL, ULB), Magdalena SAPALA (European
Parliamentary Research Service), Oto POTLUKA (CEPS,
University of Basel), Marcin DABROWSKI (TUDelft), Ida
MUSIALKOWSKA (Poznan University of Economics and Business),
Laura POLVERARI (University of Strathclyde).
For
any enquiry, please contact Nicola Francesco Dotti: [log in to unmask]