This blog has been written jointly by Dr Carolina Cañibano (CSIC) and Dr José Real Dato (University of Almería) and accompanies the publication in English of their discussion paper The Spanish scientific and technical advisory ecosystem for public policy, commissioned by the JRC.

The Spanish Prime Minister announced, on the 8^th of February, the creation of a National Office for Science Advice (Oficina Nacional de Asesoramiento Científico, ONAC). From that day on, ONAC lies at the heart of the Spanish Government as a subdirectory depending of the ‘General Secretariat for Public Policy, European Affairs and Strategic Foresight’ at the Presidency of the Government. This new Office is in charge of establishing institutional mechanisms to facilitate science advice, identifying and encouraging good advisory practices within and outside the public sector, and supporting the connection between the Government and the scientific talent that exists in research centres and universities (Boletín Oficial del Estado, Feb. 9). This is happening only a few months after we presented the report on “the Spanish scientific and technical advisory ecosystem for public policy”, commissioned by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), and it comes to re-enforce a growing although still fragile ecosystem, with the creation of a new key institutional actor.

Click here to download the English version of the report in PDF   

Click here to download the Spanish version of the report in PDF     

Indeed, some steps taken during the recent Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union (July-December 2023) show the increasing value that our country assigns to the design and implementation of evidence-informed public policies. This has been shown through the publication of Council Conclusions on “Strengthening the role and impact of research and innovation in the policy making process in the Union” (December 8, 2023) and the organisation of Presidency events like the ‘European Science Diplomacy Conference’ (Madrid, 18-19 December) and the ‘Science for policy in Spain’ workshop (Madrid 21 September). The latter was an opportunity to discuss the features of the Spanish science-for-policy ecosystem, as well as to bring together and encourage exchange between its most relevant actors.

New laws and organisations in Spain for evidence-informed policymaking

The analysis we undertook between March and September 2023, leading to the above- mentioned report, uncovered the dynamism and richness of the Spanish science advice ecosystem at the State level (our analysis did not cover the regional level).

The Spanish institutional innovativeness of the recent years has been remarkable. First, the approval of new regulation frameworks, such as a new law of science or the institutionalisation of policy evaluation among others, provides the normative foundations for embracing processes within the public administration and the science and innovation system to promote evidence-informed policymaking and knowledge exchange.

Second, the creation of new actors, such as the Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Advice (2021) and the National Office for Strategy and Foresight (2020), which are now complemented by the new ONAC allows connecting governance and policymaking with a strong network of scientific knowledge producers and other science-policy interface organisations.

The Spanish science-for-policy ecosystem shows a great variety of active stakeholders

The analysis showed the great variety of stakeholders in the Spanish science-for-policy ecosystem, many of which are part of the R&D&I system. Public research performing organisations of the General State Administration play a very active policy advisory role. These include the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA), attached to the Ministry of Defence; the Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT), the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the biggest research organisation in the country. In contrast, the involvement of universities in policy advisory tasks seems to be hardly institutionalised, and depends mainly on the personal involvement of individual researchers.

In the report, we also highlight that almost 400 bodies within the General State Administration perform technical consultative and advisory functions for the ministries although the number and composition of those bodies vary substantially across ministries.

In addition to this, we also describe a number of relevant think tanks, lying outside the public administration, some of which are passionate promoters of the use of evidence in policymaking, as in the case of the COTEC Foundation or EsadeEcPol.

On the recipient side of science advice, we found a general positive stance of top-level officials and managers in the national public administration towards the use of scientific results as a basis for policymaking, which again varies across the different ministries.

But there is more to be done!

Our analysis therefore certifies the existence of a positive context for the promotion and institutional consolidation of the science-for-policy ecosystem in Spain. However, we should neither give for granted the continuity of the recent development trend nor the success of ongoing initiatives in the ecosystem. This ambitious project faces a number of important challenges starting with the need to maintain political momentum regardless of the ideology of government or short-term changes in government priorities.

There is also a clear need for specific training of professional knowledge brokers properly equipped with the necessary competences for facilitating dialogue and knowledge sharing between the scientific and political spheres, and for the exercise of responsibilities in the field of science diplomacy.

Despite the institutional richness observed in the ecosystem, our assessment also uncovered a need for creation of additional structures and specialized professional niches, which should be capable of connecting existing scientific knowledge in research performing organisations with the needs of public decision-makers across public administrations.

The need to improve data governance in the national administration was also referred as a necessary step towards improving data use for policy design and evaluation.

Finally, in order to assure that the science-for-policy ecosystem becomes a true pillar of our democratic society, additional efforts are required to incorporate the citizens to this movement and to reinforce the links between science, policy and society.

Read the "Spanish scientific and technical advisory ecosystem for public policy" report