Lithuanian Kick-off Meeting

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

Venue: Research Council of Lithuania, Gedimino pr. 3, 01103, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Date/Time: 3^rd April 2023, 10:00-14:00 EET.

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.

This project, supported by the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) by DG REFORM, 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. Particularly, the country component of the project involves preparing 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, policymaking, rule-making and budgeting to achieve greater effectiveness. 

For Lithuania, this project is timely. First, recent public administration reforms for increasing capacity for evidence-informed policymaking were channelled by a previous DG REFORM-funded project 20LT05 "Evidence Based Policy-making and Policy Evaluation at the Centre of Government in Lithuania" in conjunction with the OECD. Second, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Government Strategic Analysis Centre (STRATA) organised the workshop "Science for policymaking in Lithuania" in November 2021 to identify the key actors in the science-for-policy ecosystem.

Following on these actions and considering that the current project is jointly implemented by the JRC and the OECD, the promotion of policy changes both in the public administration as well as in the science and innovation system can be expected.

Goals

1. Formal launch of the analysis to strengthen capacity for evidence-informed policymaking in Lithuania 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.

Registration

• The format of the event will be hybrid.
• Please, register below by 20 March 2023.
• In-person participation is limited to 60 people. Your registration will be confirmed by 27th March 2023.
• Online participation is not limited. You will also receive the connection details days before the event.

Registration form

Programme

9:30 Arrival – Registration desk 

10:00 Opening remarks

• Adviser to the Prime Minister of Lithuania, Government Office, Republic of Lithuania (tbc).

• Gintautas Jakštas, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports.

• Dr. Gintaras Valinčius, Chairman of the Lithuanian Research Council.

• Nathalie Berger, Director for Support to Member States Reform, Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), European Commission (video intervention). 

10:40 The international perspective on evidence-informed policymaking in governance and public administration 

• Agnieszka Gadzina-Kolodzielska, Deputy Head of Unit “Science for democracy and evidence-informed policymaking”, The Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission.  

• Stephane Jacobzone, Senior Adviser, Public Management and Budgeting Division, OECD (online intervention). 

• Anne-Greet Keizer, the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) (online intervention). 

11:10 Panel roundtable: The national perspective on evidence-informed policymaking in governance and public administration  

• Chair: David Mair, Head of Unit “Science for democracy and evidence-informed policymaking”, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission. 

• Panellists: 

  • Eugenijus Butkus, Chair of the Board of the Research Council of Lithuania.

  • Giedrius Viliūnas, Adviser at the Committee for the Future, The Seimas.

  • Ieva Plikusienė, Chair of the Lithuanian Academy of Science Young Academy.

  • Vitalis Nakrošis, Professor of Public Administration, Vilnius University; Research Director, PPMI.   

  • Liina Eek, Coordinator of Chief Science Officer Network in Estonia, Estonian Research Council.

12:20 Closing remarks 

• Agnieszka Gadzina-Kolodzielska, Deputy Head of Unit “Science for democracy and evidence-informed policymaking”, The Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission.  

• Stephane Jacobzone, Senior Adviser, Public Management and Budgeting Division, OECD (online intervention). 

• Eugenijus Butkus, Chair of the Board of the Research Council of Lithuania.

12:30 Lunch 

14:00 End