Objective
The research will examine methods and tools for supporting and informing public policy decision-making. To this end the research is concerned with: defining the policy 'evaluation space' for SRD, and the validity, utility and application of evaluation tools designed to support SRD decision-making. The major outcome of the project will be the presentation of a 'nested' approach to evaluation, differentiating the policy choices and attendant requirement for normative analysis. The project builds on the recent EU thematic evaluation to develop methods for assessing the contribution of cohesion policies to SRD. This work developed the idea of regional development paths, and applied the conceptual idea of sustainable development as non-declining capital stock. Using this 'capitals' model, trade-offs between different capitals (dimensions) were identified, using regional case studies, as a basis for examining the degree to which regions are pursuing a sustainable development path, and the contribution of cohesion policies. The work will extend these cases to regions in the accession countries and develop further the understanding of trade-offs, especially with social capital, and of critical thresholds. The work recognised but did not address the difficult task of weighting and aggregating different policy impacts defined in the context of measured trends and trade-offs. To address this weakness we propose to integrate recent progress in the use of deliberative tools, and especially the 'deliberation matrix', to weight and aggregate different impacts, as presented in different scenarios of the future. The deliberative tools recognise the multi-stakeholder debate and seek to organise it in a structured and transparent, to articulate the necessary judgements. In developing an understanding of the requirements for decision-making for SRD, the work will also examine the influence of multi-level governance on the scope and nature of decision making for SRD.
Fields of science
Keywords
Call for proposal
FP6-2002-SSP-1
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
STREP - Specific Targeted Research ProjectCoordinator
LONDON
United Kingdom