National launch of EU project ‘Building capacity for evidence-informed policymaking’
On 7 March, the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) organized the national kick-off for the EU project ‘Building capacity for evidence-informed policymaking in governance and public administration in a post-pandemic Europe’. European societies face complex problems and major societal challenges, such as COVID-19 and climate change. It is therefore crucial that governments are able to base their policies on scientific knowledge. This new EU project aims to increase the involvement of scientists, evaluators and policymakers in each other’s work to improve knowledge sharing, processes and policies.
During the meeting, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the OECD offered an international perspective on the significant contribution of science to policy. This was followed by a discussion among the participants about the Netherlands’ science-for-policy ecosystem and its inherent challenges. Speeches by Paul ’t Hart (WRR council member and Professor of Public Administration), Annemiek Nelis (Director of Innovation, Knowledge and Strategy at the Ministry of Justice and Security) and Karen van Oudenhoven (Director of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research) formed the basis for the discussion. Prior to the kick-off, the first meeting of the national coordination group was held. In addition to the WRR, the group includes representatives from the network of Chief Science Officers and the following government ministries: the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Justice and Security, Finance and Education, Culture and Science.
The project is an initiative of DG Reform and will be carried out by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and the OECD. In addition to the Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic are also participating.