Estonian Kick-off Meeting

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

Venue: Tallinn University of Applied Sciences, Tallinn.

Date/Time: 30^th March 2023, 09:45-14:30 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 Estonia, this project is timely. First, Estonia has benefited from a DG REFORM-funded project on "Improving public financial management: spending review and budget preparation in Estonia" to support evidence-informed decision-making to resource allocation. Second, Estonia has leveraged European Regional Development Funds through the RITA Framework since 2017 to support the deployment by the Estonian Research Council (ETAG) of a network of scientific advisers at the ministries and the government office in order to support knowledge-based policy formulation. Third, Estonia held the JRC workshop "Science for policymaking in Estonia" in March 2021, which mapped key actors in the science-for-policy ecosystem. Fourth, a new financial framework allowing research spending across ministries opens new opportunities to understand how scientific knowledge can support policymaking across governmental departments.

The project is implemented by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the OECD.

Goals

1. Formal launch of the analysis to strengthen capacity for evidence-informed policymaking in Estonia 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 in-person.
• Please, register below by 20th March 2023.
• In-person participation is limited to 65 people. Your registration will be confirmed by 23rd March 2023.
   

Registration form

Programme

Tallinn University of Applied Sciences, 30th March 2023, 10:30-13:00 EET

09:45  Welcome coffee and registration

10:30  Opening remarks

• Taimar Peterkop, Secretary of State, Government Office, Republic of Estonia.
• Renno Veinthal, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Education and Research, Government of Estonia.
• Nathalie Berger, Director for Support to Member State Reform, Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), European Commission (video intervention).

10:50  The international perspective on evidence-informed policymaking

• Agnieszka Gadzina-Kolodziejska, Deputy Head of the Science for democracy and evidence-informed policymaking Unit, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commmission.
• Stéphane Jacobzone, Senior Adviser, Public Management and Budgeting Division, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

11:30  Panel roundtable: The national perspective on evidence-informed policymaking

          Moderated by Lorenzo Melchor, Policy Analyst, Science for democracy and evidence-informed policymaking Unit, Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commmission.

• Tarmo Soomere, President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences.
• Tõnis Tänav, Head of Research and Development Department, Ministry of Rural Affairs, Government of Estonia, and former science adviser.
• Katrin Pihor, Head of Research and Development Department, Ministry of Education and Research, Government of Estonia
• Maarja Kruusmaa, Member of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisers to the European Commission.
• Gerly Elbrecht, Adviser in Public Administration and Civil Service Department, Ministry of Finance, Government of Estonia.

12:45  Closing remarks

• Agnieszka Gadzina-Kolodziejska, Deputy Head of the Science for democracy and evidence-informed policymaking Unit, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commmission.
• Stéphane Jacobzone, Senior Adviser, Public Management and Budgeting Division, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
• Anu Noorma, Director General, Estonian Research Council (ETAG).

13:00  Lunch and networking

14:30  End