Belgian Kick-off Meeting

"Building capacity for evidence-informed policymaking in governance and public administration in a post-pandemic Europe"

Venue: BOSA, WTC III, Boulevard Simon Bolivar 30/bus 1, 1000 Brussels.

Date/Time: 16 February 2023, 09:00-14:00 CET.

Format: hybrid (both in-person and online).

Context

European societies face complex problems such as Covid-19, addressing the policy challenges of climate change and of achieving climate neutrality of EU economies, information systems vulnerable to mis- and disinformation, among others. Governments, public administrations and experts in the scientific community must join forces to address these wicked problems and help public administrations to be better equipped to design better, evidence-informed policies that will deliver public value and sustainable results for their citizens.

Recognising these challenges, the Belgian federal government has recently made important efforts to promote such an evidence-informed approach to decision-making. The recent implementation of Spending Reviews and the steps taken in the promotion of policy evaluations at the federal level, including through the project on Improving decision-making and governance with policy evaluation in Belgium undertaken as part of the TSI 21BE18, have participated to these efforts.

Today, the Belgian Federal government is embarking on a new endeavour in this regard, supported by the OECD and the Joint Research Centre, and funded by the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) of DG REFORM. The project on Building capacity for evidence-informed policymaking in governance and public administration in a post-pandemic Europe (22EL07) aims to overcome challenges in connecting supply and demand of evidence and scientific knowledge for effective policymaking. It will help public administrations through building greater capacity for effective engagement between scientists, evaluators and policymakers. Following on these actions and considering that the current project is jointly implemented by the OECD and the JRC, the promotion of policy changes both in the public administration as well as in the science and innovation system can be expected. This will be supported by the Belgian part of the project, which includes a diagnostic report, a needs assessment and roadmaps for policy implementation at the national level. These should offer pathways for promoting new and innovative approaches for sharing knowledge and improving the management and coordination of governance processes for decision-making,

Goals

1. Formal launch of the analysis to strengthen capacity for evidence-informed policymaking in the Belgium in the post-pandemic Europe, as part of the multi-country project 22EL07.
2. Present the scope of the project and its implications at the national level, including all the next steps for domestic participants.

Registration

• The format of the event will be hybrid.
• In-person participation is limited, early registration is encouraged.
• Online participation is not limited. You will also receive the connection details days before the event.
• Registration is made through BOSA website below.

Registration form

Programme

BOSA, WTC III, Boulevard Simon Bolivar 30/bus 1, 1000 Brussels.

Programme also available on the BOSA website in French.

French programme version

09:00  Arrival – Registration desk

09:30  Welcoming remarks

• Petra de Sutter, Deputy Prime Minister, Belgium (video address).
• Nathalie Berger, Director, Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), European Commission.
• Janos Bertok, Deputy Director, Public Governance Directorate, OECD.
• Jolita Butkeviciene, Director, Directorate for Innovation in Science and Policymaking, The Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission.

09:50  International perspectives on evidence-informed policymaking in governance and public administration

• Stéphane Jacobzone, Senior Adviser, Public Management and Budgeting Division, OECD.
  This presentation will discuss the challenges faced by countries to promote evidence-informed decision-making, as they relate to the supply and the use of evidence. It will introduce a general perspective on policymaking challenges from an OECD perspective, as well as the contribution of policy evaluation to evidence informed decision-making (EIPM) in a way that it can support open democracies. It will connect in particular the specific challenges of “Making Evaluation Happen”, in terms of institutionalisation and use, with the wider challenges met when promoting EIPM and addressing the science to evidence and policy nexus.
• David Mair, Head of Unit, Science for Democracy and Evidence-informed policymaking, JRC, European Commission.
  This presentation will frame this project as part of the wider activity of the European Commission in support of evidence-informed policymaking. The presentation will provide insights about recent international steps in this agenda, including at European level (Better Regulation, Strategic Foresight, recent EC roundtable of Ministers), and drawing on the key messages of the Staff Working Document on “Supporting and connecting policymaking in the Member States with scientific research”.

10:15  Coffee Break

10:30  Evidence-informed policymaking in governance and public administration in Belgium: Roundtable on key challenges

            Chaired by Stéphane Jacobzone, Senior Adviser, Public Management and Budgeting Division, OECD.

• Saskia Weemans, Deputy Commissioner, Federal Planning Bureau.
• Ben Smeets, Director General for Recruitment and Development, Federal Public Service Policy and Support.
• Frank Monteny, Head of Research and Aerospace, Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO).
• David Aubin, Professor of Political Science, L'UCLouvain.
• Representative from KU Leuven (tbc).

12:00  Evidence-informed policymaking in governance and public administration in Belgium: Project objectives and outputs

          This session will present the objectives and outputs of the work to be undertaken with Belgium within the overall framework of the whole multi country project. Detailed information will be provided on the outputs regarding country analysis (diagnosis report, needs/gaps assessment, country roadmaps), and will introduce the implications in terms of interaction with national authorities and stakeholders. The session will inform participants through what could be expected over the following months. Information will also be provided on processes to gather information, taking into account existing information from existing projects and remaining gaps to be covered.

           Chaired by Athina Manta, Policy Officer, DG REFORM, European Commission.

• Claire Salama, Lead performance monitoring and evaluation, OECD. Next steps in the implementation of the project.
• Kristian Krieger, Policy Analyst, JRC, European Commission. General overview of the project workshops and symposia.

12:30  Closing

• Koen Beirens, Project Coordinator, Federal Public Service Policy and Support.
• Daniele Dotto, Deputy Director, DG REFORM, European Commission

12:40  Lunch and social gathering

14:00  END