sustainable development in policy assessment – methods ... · pdf filesustainable...

Sustainable Development in Policy Assessment – Methods, Challenges and Policy Impacts June 15th – 16th, 2009 Brussels, Belgium

Abstracts and Contacts

Sustainable Development in Policy Assessment – Methods, Challenges and Policy Impacts

June 15th-16th, 2009, Brussels

2



3

Table of Contents June 15th, 2009

Plenary I: Understanding Sustainability Evaluation and its Contribution to Policy-making..............................4 Working group session I WG 1: Defining Sustainable Development as an Evaluation Object ................................................7 WG 2: Methodological Challenges in Evaluating Sustainable Development..................................10 WG 3: Politics, Policy Styles and Evaluation .................................................................................12 June 16th, 2009

Working group session II WG 4: Methods for Evaluating Sustainable Development ............................................................14 WG 5: Integrated Approaches in Evaluating Sustainable Development ........................................18 WG 6 a: Science Policy Interface .................................................................................................21 Working group session III WG 6 b: Science Policy Interface .................................................................................................21 WG 7: Integrated Approaches in Evaluating Regional Sustainable Development .........................26 WG 8: Institutionalisation of Sustainability Evaluation .................................................................29 Plenary II Increasing the Usefulness of Sustainability Evaluation....................................................................5 Alphabetical Index of Contributors ..................................................................................33



4

Plenary 1: Understanding Sustainability Evaluation and its Contribution to Policy-making

Prof. Dr. Rolf-Ulrich Sprenger, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin (Chair) Contact Fellow, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, tel.: +49 (0)30 884 594 0, e-mail: [email protected], www.ioew.de; Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Potsdamer Str. 105, 10785 Berlin, Germany

Prof. Nicoletta Stame, University of Rome Contact Ricerca sociale e metodologia sociologica - RISMeS, Professor of Sociology, tel.: + 39 06 844 033 32, e-mail: [email protected], www.uniroma1.it, University La Sapienza, corso Italia 38a - 00198 Roma - Italy Fields of research: Theory and methods of evaluation, public policies Selected publications and projects: Stame, N. (2008): The European Project, Federalism and Evaluation, in Evaluation, Vol. 14, No. 2 Rist, R. and Stame N. (eds.) (2006): From Studies to Streams, New Brunswick, NJ, Transaction Publishers Stame, N. (2006): Governance, democracy and evaluation, in Evaluation, Vol. 12, No. 1

Prof. Reinhard Stockmann, Center for Evaluation, University of the Saarland, Saarbrücken Contact Professor of Sociology, tel.: +49 (0)681 302 3320, e-mail: [email protected], www.ceval.de, University of the Saarland, Campus, Bldg. C 5 3, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany

Fields of research: development cooperation, methods of empirical research evaluation Selected publications: Stockmann, R. (2008): Evaluation and Quality Development: Principles of Impact-Based Quality Management, Peter Lang, Frankfurt Stockmann, R. (Hrsg.) (2007): Handbuch zur Evaluation. Eine praktische Handlungsanleitung, Waxmann Verlag, Münster, New York, Berlin, München Stockmann, R. (Hrsg.) (2006): Evaluationsforschung, Grundlagen und ausgewählte Forschungsfelder, Waxmann Verlag, Münster, New York, Berlin, München

Prof. Jan Rotmans, Erasmus University Rotterdam Contact Scientific Director of Dutch Research, tel.: +31 (0)10-4088775, e-mail: [email protected], [email protected], www.drift.eur.nl, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Institute for Transitions, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands Selected publications: Martens, P. and Rotmans, J. (eds.) (2002): Transitions in a Globalising World, Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger Rotmans, J., Kemp, R. and van Asselt, M. B. A. (2001): More evolution then revolution: transition manage-ment in public policy, The Journal of Future Studies, Strategic thinking and Policy, Vol. 3, Issue 1, 15-32

Nicole Dewandre, DG Research, European Commission, Brussels, Contact Head of the Sustainable development Unit in the Directorate General for Research, e-mail: [email protected], European Commission, DG Research, 1049 Brussels, Belgium



5

Plenary 2: Increasing the Usefulness of Sustainability Evaluation R. Andreas Kraemer, Ecologic Institute, Berlin (Chair) Contact Director, tel.: +49 (0)30 868 800, e-mail: [email protected], www.ecologic.eu, Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Str. 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany Fields of research:

Transformation policy, Policy interface dynamics, Transatlantic relations and global context Selected publications and projects: Kraemer, R. A. (2009): Learning from Europe's Mistakes - Can the United States catch up in climate protection? IP Global (Internationale Politik), Vol. 10, No. 1, 52-55, www.ecologic.eu/2665 Kraemer, R. A. (2008): What Price Energy Transformation? Survival, Vol. 50, No. 3, June-July 2008, 11-18, www.ecologic.eu/2353 Kraemer, R. A. (2007): Federalism and Environmental Regulation in Germany and the EU. AICGS Policy Report, No. 31 Federalism and Environmentalism in the United States and Germany, 7-32, www.ecologic.eu/2095

Prof. Colin Kirkpatrick, The Impact Assessment Research Centre, University of Manchester Contact Director, tel.: +44 (0)161 275 2807, e-mail: [email protected], www.manchester.ac.uk/sed/research/iarc, School of Environment and Development, The University of Manchester, The Impact Assessment Research Centre, PO Box 88, Manchester, M60 1QD, United Kingdom Fields of research:

development economics and policy, Impact assessment methods and application, regulatory reform policy Selected publications and projects: Kirkpatrick, C. and Parker, D. (2008): Regulatory Impact Assessment: Towards Better Regulation? Edward Elgar: Cheltenham Kirkpatrick, C. and George C. (2007): Impact Assessment and Sustainable Development: European Policy and Experience. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham Kirkpatrick, C., Green, C. and Murinde V. (2006): Finance and Development: Theory, Practice and Policy. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham

Dr. David Stanners, European Environment Agency, Copenhagen Contact Executive Director's Office, Head of International Cooperation, tel.: +45 (0)333 671 01, e-mail: [email protected], http://www.eea.europa.eu/, European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, 1050 Copenhagen, Denmark Fields of research:

Integrated Environmental Assessment Lay, local and indegenous knowledge Precaution

Robin Miège, DG Environment, European Commission, Brussels Contact Head of Unit Sustainable Development and Economic Analysis, tel.: +32 229 580 43, e-mail: [email protected], European Commission, DG Environment, 1049 Brussel, Belgium Fields of research: Sustainable Development and Economic Analysis



6

Dr. André Martinuzzi, Research Institute for Managing Sustainability, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration Contact Head of the Institute, Associate Professor, e-mail: [email protected], Research Institute for Managing Sustainability, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Nordbergstr. 15, 1090 Vienna, Austria Fields of research: Sustainable development in the public and private sector Selected publications and projects: Galla, J., Kopp, U., Martinuzzi, A., Störmer, E. (2008): „Programmakteursaufstellungen – erste Erfahrungen mit Systemaufstellungen in theoriebasierten Evaluationen (Focus on actors – Initial experiences with system constellations in theory-based evaluations)”, in: Zeitschrift für Evaluation (Journal for Evaluation), 1/2008, pp. 35-73 Konrad, A., Martinuzzi, A., Steurer, R. (2008): When Business Associations and a Federal Ministry Jointly Consult Civil Society: A CSR Policy Case Study on the Development of the CSR Austria Guiding Vision, in: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Volume 15, pp. 270–280 Schylander, E., Martinuzzi, A. (2007): ISO 14001 - Experiences, effects and future challenges; A national study in Austria, in: Business Strategy and the Environment, Volume 16, Number 2, pp. 133–147



7

WG 1: Defining Sustainable Development as an Evaluation Object

Dr. Bernd Hirschl, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin (Chair) For more information see p. 19.

Dr. John Turnpenny, Tyndall Centre-CSERGE, University of East Anglia:

What are we assessing? Differing interpretations of sustainable development and implications for its assessment

Sustainable development' is an inherently complicated and contested concept, a classic 'wicked issue'. First, there are conflicting definitions about what the problems we are trying to address are; second, there are uncertainties about the goals we are trying to achieve through sustainable development; and third, there are uncertainties about the consequences of (in)action - economically, politically, socially and ecologically. Sustainable development is hence a highly contentious political issue, and subject to much of the political behaviour associated with other contentious issues, such as protracted disagreements, multiple value judgments and strategic/symbolic use of science and evidence. Attempts to assist sustainable development through instigating more evidence-based policy-making, or institutionalized policy appraisal systems, often neglect this important political component. Analysis of many evaluation systems have found similar behaviour, including institutional constraints to more influential evaluation. I examine mechanisms such as boundary organizations, as an alternative to better managing the analytical-political divide.

Contact Dr. John Turnpenny, senior research associate, e-mail: [email protected], Tyndall Centre-CSERGE, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom Fields of research: politics of policy appraisal, post-normal science for sustainability, evidence-policy relationship

Selected publications and projects: Turnpenny, J., Radaelli, C., Jordan, A., Jacob, K. (2009): The policy and politics of policy appraisal: Emerging trends and new directions. Journal of European Public Policy 16(4) (in press Jan 2009) Turnpenny, J., Lorenzoni, I., Jones, M. (2009): Noisy and definitely not normal: Responding to wicked issues in the environment, energy and health. Environmental Science and Policy 12, pp. 347-358 Turnpenny, J., Nilsson, M., Russel, D., Jordan, A. Hertin, J., Nykvist, B. (2008): Why is integrating policy assessment so hard? A comparative analysis of the institutional capacities and constraints. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 51 (6), pp. 759-775

Dr. Ron Cörvers, International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development, Maastricht University:

Evaluating Sustainability Assessment Methods for Policy

Sustainability-related assessment methods aim to support decision-making and policy for sustainable development. The collection of methods that can be used is huge and diverse. In ‘traditional’ assessments the emphasis is on providing knowledge, dealing with uncertainties and reducing risks. Issues such as power, values and actors’ perspectives are neglected, or difficult to integrate. A consequence can be that the assessment is not very useful for the target group, e.g. policy makers. Modern sustainable assessments methods, such as integrated sustainability assessment (ISA), take this into account and try to establish a collaborative process of co-production of knowledge and mutual learning between policy makers and stakeholders. The question is, if and how sustainable assessment methods contribute to a process of transformative change, where multiple issues of knowledge and power have to be addressed in a productive



8

way. Transformative evaluation, a method for fostering organizational transformation, might be helpful to find some answers.

Contact Dr. Ron Cörvers, researcher, tel.: +31 43 388 2690, e-mail: [email protected], International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development, Maastricht University, Lenculenstraat 14, 6211 KR Maastricht, The Netherlands Fields of research: governance for sustainable development, sustainability and science-policy interface, learning for sustainable development Selected publications and projects: Van Zeijl-Rozema, R. Cörvers, R. Kemp and P. Martens (2008): Governance for sustainable development: a framework, in: Sustainable Development, 16(6): 410-421 Cörvers, R. en J. de Kraker (2009): Virtual Campus Development on the Basis of Subsidiarity: The EVS Approach, in: Stansfield, M. and Connoly, T. (eds.): Institutional Transformation through Best Practices in Virtual Campus Development: Advancing E-Learning Policies, IGI Global, USA. Education and Sustainable Development in Limburg. Research project by ICIS-Maastricht University funded by the Province of Limburg, The Netherlands

Aldert Hanemaaijer, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven:

How to Select Policy Relevant Indicators for Sustainable Development?

Operationalization of the concept of sustainable development in a policy context needs indicators which clearly discriminate between progress and decay. In this paper a step by step approach is proposed to come up with such indicators. It is argued that first relevant themes have to be chosen: What should we worry about? Answering this, the public and political debate as well as scientific knowledge, need to be tapped. A second step is to determine which long term goals identified and available means estimated, as well as co-benefits and trade-offs analysed before policy relevant indicators could be selected. This approach to come up with a set of well-derived sustainability indicators helps society in two ways: it indicates the possible roads towards the long term goals, and the indicators help to reconsider these goals.

Contact Aldert Hanemaaijer, tel.: + 31 (0)302 743 734, e-mail: [email protected], Environmental Assessments Agency, P.O. Box 303, 3720 AH Bilthoven, The Netherlands

Fields of research: Environmental economics, Institutional economics, Policy evaluation Selected publications and projects: Hanemaaijer, A., de Ridder, W., Aalbers, T., et al. (eds.) (2008): The Netherlands in a Sustainable World: Second Sustainability Outlook. Bilthoven: Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency

Dr. Hans Meves, Network Bureau Europe, Kiel:

Applying Strategic Environmental Assessment as Means of Sustainability Evaluation – The Case of the Central Baltic Cross-Border Programme (2007-2013)

Sustainable development as an evaluation object is strongly linked to the one overarching purpose of evaluation, into which all other major purposes can fit, which concerns learning. And evaluation from this perspective has as its main purpose: to learn through systematic enquiry how to better design, implement and deliver sustainability/ sustainable development. An emphasis on sustainability and learning highlights an important aspect of evaluation – evaluation capacity.



9

For sustainability evaluation, to be properly integrated into policy programme making, a culture that supports learning is necessary. Otherwise to derive positive lessons for the future from problems or failures as well as from success won’t be possible. This paper is discussing how strategic environmental assessment, in the context of the ex-ante evaluation, was used to place sustainable development as an overarching policy goal within the framework of the INTERREG program standards.

Contact Dr. Hans Meves, tel.: +49 (0)174 346 7944, e-mail: [email protected], www.nbe-international.net, Network Bureau Europe (N.B.E.), Fraunhoferstr. 13, Wissenschaftspark, 24118 Kiel, Germany Fields of research: environmental knowledge and strategic innovation, networks and socio-spatial relations, evaluation and sustainable development

Selected publications and projects: Ex ante evaluation and strategic enviromental assessment of the central baltic programme 2007-2013 Food and sustainability: development as if food matters Socio-spatial relations of human interactions in global environmental change



10

WG 2: Methodological Challenges in Evaluating Sustainable Development

Dr. Arthur Petersen, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven /The Hague (Chair) For more information see p. 14.

Dr. Candice Stevens, Former OECD Sustainable Development Advisor, Paris:

A Basic Roadmap for Sustainability Assessments

Sustainability assessment methodologies must fulfill certain criteria in order to be useful to policy-makers. They must 1) evaluate economic, environmental and social impacts in equal measure; 2) be easily understood and transparent; and 3) be inexpensive and practical to implement. Long, complicated, and/or expensive assessment methodologies will not help integrate sustainability perspectives into policy-making.

Contact Dr. Candice Stevens, Former OECD Sustainable Development Advisor, tel.: +33 145 257 130, e-mail: [email protected], 7 bis, rue des Eaux, 75016 Paris, France Fields of research: Sustainable Development, Corporate Responsibility

Selected publications and projects:

Stevens, C. (2009): Europe Leads the World in Sustainability, Europe's World, Spring 2009

Dr. Wolfgang Meyer, Center for Evaluation, University of the Saarland, Saarbrücken:

Evaluation Revisited? Why Sustainable Development needs More Professional Assessments

Do we really need evaluation for sustainable development? What kind of evaluation do we need? Must it be different to the evaluation we already use? These questions will be treated during the presentation. By using an integrative concept of sustainability, basing on social integration, the limits of evaluation practice will be illustrated by regular evaluation concepts used for assessing sustainable development in German development cooperation. More theoretically, the most important implications for better evaluation of sustainability will be discussed on behalf of its practicability.

Contact Dr. Wolfgang Meyer, Assistant Professor, Senior Policy Advisor, tel.: +49 (0)681 302 4358, e-mail: [email protected], www.ceval.de, Center for Evaluation, University of the Saarland, Im Stadtwald, Geb. C5.3, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany Fields of research: Evaluation, Methods, Sustainable Development, Environment, Labour Market Selected publications and projects: Stockmann R. /Meyer, W. (2009): Evaluation. Eine Einführung (forthcoming) Meyer, W., Elbe, S. (2007): Evaluation of Regional Network Governance, in: George/Kirkpatrick (eds.), Impact Assessment and Sustainable Development, Cheltenham/Northhampton: Edward Elgar Meyer, W. (2007): Vertical Dimension of Social Integration: Grass-roots Activities for Managing Sustainability, in: Pati/Schwarz-Herion (eds.), Sustainable Development: Issues and Perspectives, New Delhi: D.K. Printworld, pp. 99-123 Evaluation of Regional Forestry Management Project, South-Pacific 2006/2007 Evaluation of Energy Consumption Project, Thailand 2007/2008 Evaluation of Qualification of Municipality Services on Water and Wastemangement, Turkey 2008/2009



11

Franziska Mohaupt, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin

Evaluating sustainable development with the capability approach

As evaluation in the development context makes particularly clear, evaluation has a political dimension: who is evaluated (and who isn’t), on what standards, and by whom? Keeping in mind these political questions is important for a grasp of the uses and disadvantages of sustainability-based evaluation tools. Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum have proposed that normative evaluation of development (Sen) and justice (Nussbaum) could draw on capability as a metric of evaluation. This paper posits that the capability metric is one way to explicate the normative dimension of sustainable development, and consequently explores the implications of this metric for the respective measurement and evaluation.

Contact Franziska Mohaupt, tel.: +49 (0)30 884 5940, e-mail: [email protected], www.ioew.de, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Potsdamer Str. 105, 10785 Berlin, Germany Fields of research: corporate environmental management, sustainable innovations, organisational learning, Selected publications and projects: Berg, C. et al (2004): Self-assessing Good Practices and Scaling-up Strategies in Sustainable Agriculture – Guidelines for Facilitators. Berlin, S 211, series of the Centre for Advanced Training in Rural Development

Jürgen Kopfmüller, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft:

Sustainability Assessment: Conceptual approach, methodological needs, practical implementation

To provide suitable orientation knowledge for decision makers, existing tools to assess contributions of particular subjects of investigation to sustainable development and to assess political measures and their application need substantial improvement. The presentation outlines a proposal of a systematic conceptual and analytical framework as a tool-box for sustainability assessments considering complexities, uncertainties and contexts as well as unintended side-effects or potential conflicting goals appropriately. Its application to the construction, housing, and real estate sector in Germany will be outlined. It will be shown how sector specific sustainability goals (area and resource protection, availability of sufficient affordable living space, etc.) correspond to the different analytical and action levels: single buildings, settlements development, structure and dynamics of national building stock. Current experiences with the sustainability certification tool for buildings will be discussed, regarding e.g. interlinkages with other tools, interrelations with supra-national initiatives, and required modifications resulting from this.

Contact Jürgen Kopfmüller, Dipl.-Volksw., tel.: +49 (0)72 478 245 70, e-mail: [email protected], www.itas.fzk.de, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft, PO Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany Fields of research: Sustainable development, Megacities, Energy and climate change corporate Selected publications and projects: Schlüns, J., Brand, F., Kopfmüller, J., Ott, K (2008): Building a „Theory of Sustainable Development“: Two Salient Conceptions within the German discourse, in: International Journal for Environment and Sustainable Development, Vol. 7, Nr. 4, p. 465-482 Lang, E., Busch-Lüty, C., Kopfmüller, J. (Hrsg.) (2007): Wiedervorlage dringend. Ansätze für eine Ökonomie der Nachhaltigkeit. Oekom Verlag, München Grunwald, G., Kopfmüller, J. (2006): Nachhaltigkeit. Eine Einführung. Campus, Frankfurt a. Main



12

WG 3: Politics, Policy Styles and Evaluation

Esther Hoffmann, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin (Chair)

Contact Head of the research field corporate environmental management, tel.: +49 (0)30 884 594 0, e-mail: [email protected], www.iow.de, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Potsdamer Str. 105, 10785 Berlin, Germany

Fields of research: Sustainable product design, Organisational learning, Environmental management, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Evaluation research, Adapting to Climate Change Selected publications and projects: Hoffmann, Esther; Gebauer, Jana (2008): Stand und Perspektiven unternehmerischer Verantwortung in Deutschland. Hoffmann, Esther (2007): Consumer Integration in Sustainable Product Development, in: Business Strategy and the Environment 16, p. 323-338 Hoffmann, Esther; Siebenhüner, Bernd; Beschorner, Thomas; Arnold, Marlen; Behrens, Torsten; Barth, Volker; Vogelpohl, Karin (ed., 2007): Social learning and sustainability, Metropolis, Marburg

Dr. Klaus Jacob, Freie Universität Berlin:

The Practice of Impact Assessment in Europe

The presentation will provide an overview on innovation and trends in Impact Assessment in Europe. It will be shown that there is an increased interest in ex ante assessment of policies, and accordingly IA systems are introduced or being reformed in almost every member state of the Union. However, there is no uniform model for IA systems and the practice varies considerably. The potentials and limits of IA will be discussed in particular regarding the integration of SD requirements in policy making. The presentation will be based on an overview on IA systems in all 27 MS, as well as case studies and surveys in selected MS. Conclusions will be drawn on options for an enhanced consideration of SD aspects in Impact Assessment and Policy Making.

Contact Dr. Klaus Jakob, Research Director, tel.: +49 (0)30 838 544 92 , e-mail: [email protected], www.fu-berlin.de/ffu, Environmental Policy Research Centre, FFU Berlin, Ihnestraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany Fields of research: Policy Analysis, Impact Assessment, Environmental Policy and Innovation Selected publications and projects: Hertin, J., Jacob, K., Pesch, U., Pacchi, C. (2009): The Production and Use of Knowledge in Regulatory Impact Assessment. An empirical analysis. In Forest Policy and Economics, in print. Jacob, K., Hertin, J. et. al. (2008): Improving the Practice of Impact Assessment. EVIA Policy Paper. Berlin

EVIA – Evaluating Integrated Impact Assessment

Stephen White, DG Environment, European Commission, Brussels:

How informed should decisions be?

This presentation will ask a number of questions: Who is the decision-maker? It is not a single person, it is normally a number of people grouped under the simplistic title of 'decision-maker'. We need to understand their different needs.



13

What is the role of Impact Assessment along the whole of the policy process? At different times, the Impact Assessment process is providing different needs. Within the Commission, Impact Assessment has helped the Commission prepare better policies and to better explain them. Is it easy to judge from outside? Probably not, they are a summary of information and, crucially, people take different decisions on the basis of the same information. Are there some conditions for success at the Commission that others can learn from? Contact Stephen White, Socio-Economic Analyst, tel.: +32 229 964 14, [email protected], http://ec.europa.eu/environment/index_en.htm, DG Environment, Sustainable Development and Economic Analysis Unit, European Commission, Av De Beaulieu 5, Brussels B-1160, Belgium

Zoë Robaey, Ecologic Institute, Berlin: Finding Consensus in Environmental Assessment: a Canadian Case Study

Oil sands exploitation in Canada entails major environmental problems. Approval of large mining projects often require an extensive multi-stakeholder environmental impact assessment (EIA) which is undertaken jointly at a federal and provincial level. The case of the Kearl Oil Sands project (2003-2008) marked the first time an EIA underwent a judicial review which was initiated following a complaint from environmentalist groups against an EIA approved by the federal and provincial governments. This controversy helps understand the implications of this highly participatory style of EIA. Indeed, two main approaches to uncertainties contrasted each other in the Kearl case: uncertainties seen as unspecified and stable requiring a precautionary approach vs. uncertainties seen as specified and temporary calling mostly for more expertise and adaptive management. The case thus reveals how the highly participatory style of EIA in Canada allows for value controversies and the renegotiation of specific EIA instruments.

Contact Zoë Robaey, Transatlantic Fellow, tel.: +49 (30) 868 800, e-mail: [email protected], http://ecologic.eu/, Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Strasse 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany

Fields of research: Science and Technology Studies, Nature protection



14

WG 4: Methods for Evaluating Sustainable Development

Benjamin Görlach, Ecologic Institute, Berlin (Chair) Contact Fellow, tel.: +49 (0)30 868 800, e-mail: [email protected], www.ecologic.eu/, Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Straße 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany Fields of research: environmental economics, economic valuation of environmental goods and services, economic instruments for nature and environment protection, evaluation of environmental policies Selected publications and projects: Bausch, Camilla; Görlach, Benjamin (2009): La politique climatique de la grande coalition: rétrospective et perspectives, in: Claire Demesmay und Hans Stark (ed.): Radioscopies de l'Allemagne. Paris: ifri, p. 207-223. Görlach, Benjamin; Hölzer-Schopohl, Olaf; Hermann, Hauke (2008): The European Emissions Trading Scheme - Coming of Age?, Carbon & Climate Law Review, Jg. 2, Nr. 1, p. 105-109. Görlach, Benjamin et al. (2007): Transparency, Information Disclosure and Participation in Export Credit Agency Cover Decisions, in: Sophie Thoyer und Benoit Martimort-Asso (ed.): Participation for Sustainability in Trade, 241-258. Global Environmental Governance Series. Burlington, USA: Ashgate Publishing.

Dr. Arthur Petersen, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven /The Hague:

A Worldview Approach Towards Governance and Institutions for Sustainable Development

There is deep value-laden uncertainty about which international policy strategies would lead the world in a direction towards solving sustainability problems. Related to this, sustainability assessments typically find difficulty in addressing the institutional dimensions of specific policy options. In this paper, a worldview approach is proposed that brings together quantitative and qualitative approaches to address preferred policy options and possibilities for their institutional implementation. Worldviews can be interpreted as value-based visions of the world. They constitute ways of perceiving the world: the framing of problems, the logic of societal change, the main actors, the role of international organisations and the state, and preferred solutions. An analysis through the lens of worldviews can help to structure the interpretation of past developments and explore alternative future developments. A number of studies in which this approach is applied are presented and reflected upon from international relations theory perspectives. Contact Dr. Arthur Petersen, Director, tel.: +31 30 274 458 0, e-mail: [email protected], http://www.pbl.nl/nl/index.html, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Information Services & Methodology, P.O. Box 303, 3720 AH Bilthoven, The Netherlands Fields of research:

development and use of methodology for sustainability assessment and methodology for uncertainty assessment and communication Selected publications and projects: Hanemaaijer, A., de Ridder, W., Aalbers, T., Eickhout, B., Hilderink, H., Manders, T., Nagelhout, D. and Petersen, A. (Eds.) (2008): The Netherlands in a Sustainable World: Second Sustainability Outlook. Bilthoven: Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency Petersen, A. and Pardo-Guerra, J. P. (Eds.) (2006): A World without War: International Student/Young Pugwash Yearbook 2006. Apeldoorn and Antwerp: Het Spinhuis Publishers, 126 pp



15

Petersen, A. (2006): Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in the Middle East and the Establishment of a WMD-Free Zone. Report on Working Group 2, 56th Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs, "A Region in Transition: Peace and Reform in the Middle East", Cairo, Egypt, 11-15 November 2006

Manfred Walser, Institute for Public Services and Tourism at the University of St. Gallen:

Tools and Experiences in the International Lake of Constance-Region

A lot of Local Agenda 21 processes fail because the responsible actors are not able to integrate the manifold and ambitious endeavours into ongoing policies and the political institutions. Confronted with the often imbalanced or even contradictory goals of daily life politics the concept of sustainable development becomes the cherry on the cake: nice to have but should not disturb ‘serious interests’. To overcome this situation a lot of approaches have been developed to assess the ‘sustainable quality’ of a specific project. In Germany, Switzerland and Austria we identified 25 different concepts open to the public which can be characterized according to scope, actors involved, the underlying concept of sustainability and other indicators. The overview on tools to valuate projects is part of the ongoing regional Agenda21- process in the international Lake of Constance- region which covers parts of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Principality of Liechtenstein. One goal of this process is the support of local communities to improve their steps towards sustainable development. Within the region we use a discursive method which is aimed at improving concrete projects in the planning period and at the same time creating a framework of informal learning within the local community. The experiences with this tool look promising with respect to the goal of integrating sustainable development into local politics. Contact Manfred Walser, Scientist, tel.: +41 (0)71 224 2525, e-mail: [email protected], www.idt.unisg.ch, Institute for Public Services and Tourism at the University of St. Gallen, Dufourstr. 40a, CH-9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland Fields of research: regional governance, (sustainable) regional development, informal learning Selected publications and projects: Lake of Constance Agenda 21 Regional development Walgau Longterm Monitoring NEAT construction site

Dr. Markku Lehtonen, SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research, Sussex:

Policy influence of indicators and evaluations: Framework for analysis of and lessons from the UK energy sector

While indicators are increasingly being applied in a number of areas, including environmental and sustainability policy, there is little evidence concerning their actual use, role in policy decisions, and broader impacts on society. This paper first describes the analytical framework developed within an EU FP7-funded POINT research project on the policy influence of indicators, and then presents early findings from a case study on the role of the UK Energy Sector Indicators in policymaking. The paper adopts ‘influence’ instead of ‘use’ as a term capable of capturing the various types of intended and unintended, direct and indirect consequences of indicators. Conclusions are drawn on the suitability of the theoretical framework, and the reasons behind the various types of indicator influence, notably the relative importance of the quality of the indicators on the one hand, and the policy context on the other.



16

Contact Dr. Markku Lehtonen, Research Fellow, tel.:+44 (0)1273 872 787, e-mail: [email protected], http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sussexenergygroup/profile187591.html, SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research, The Freeman Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QE, United Kingdom Fields of research: Energy and sustainability policy and governance (current research on nuclear and biofuels), Role of expert knowledge in policymaking (evaluations, assessments, indicators), Participatory and deliberative planning and decision-making Selected publications and projects: Lehtonen, M. and Kern, F. (2009): Deliberative socio-technical transitions, in: Scrase, I. & MacKerron, G. (eds.), Energy for the Future: A New Agenda. New York and London: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. 103-122 Lehtonen, M. (forthcoming) Social sustainability of the Brazilian bioethanol: power relations in a centre-periphery perspective. Biomass and Bioenergy. Lehtonen, M. (2008): Mainstreaming Sustainable Development in the OECD through Indicators and Peer Reviews. Sustainable Development 16(3): 241-250

Simone Roberta Schiller, Kerstin Huelemeyer, Institute for Rural Development Research, Frankfurt:

Developing an improved methodology on evaluating impacts of rural development

With the creation of one single European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development monitoring and evaluation of Rural Development Programs (RDPs) has become a legal requirement. As guidance document the ‘Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework’ (CMEF) has been published. The CMEF defines the requirements on monitoring and evaluation and specifies a limited number of quantitative indicators applicable to each programe. While economic aspects are considered fairly adequately, the assessment especially of environmental and social impacts needs to be improved. The EU funded project “Assessing the impact of Rural Development policies” (RuDI) is concerned with critically reviewing current rural development evaluation as well as identifying additional characteristics to those suggested in the CMEF, that would be valuable to measure and map the impacts of RDPs on the background of sustainable development. The project aims at developing a new methodology on evaluating impacts. This workshop contribution will present first results of the RuDI project.

Contacts Simone Roberta Schiller, tel.: +49 (0)69 775 002, e-mail: [email protected], www.ifls.de , www.rudi-europe.net, Institute for Rural Development Research, Zeppelinallee 31, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany Fields of research: rural development policy, multifunctional and sustainable agriculture, policy evaluation and impact assessment Selected publications and projects: Knickel, K., Schiller, S., Vihinen, H. and Weber, A. (2008): New institutional arrangements in rural development, in: van der Ploeg, J. D. and Marsden, T. (eds): Unfolding webs: the dynamics of regional rural development. Assen (NL): Van Gorcum, 111-128 RuDI: Assessing the Impacts of Rural development Policies (incl. LEADER) EU COM FP7, 2008 – 2010 Enlarging the theoretical understanding of rural development, EU COM FP6, ETUDE 2007 – 2009

Kerstin Huelemeyer, tel.: +49 (0)69 775 002, e-mail: [email protected], http://www.ifls.de/content/en_team.php, Institute for Rural Development Research, Zeppelinallee 31, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany



17

Fields of research:

Impact analysis of measures of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Commission, Analyses of the multifunctionality of agriculture and rural space, Structural change of rural areas and integrated rural development, Sceanario development and spatial modelling

Selected publications and projects:

Hülemeyer, K., Weis, M. and Glawion, R. (2008): Entwicklung, Modellierung und Bewertung von Szenarien als Beitrag zur Ableitung von Landschaftsleitbildern für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung ländlicher Räume, in: Erdmann, K.-H., Löffler, J. and Roscher, S. : Naturschutz im Kontext einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung – Ansätze, Konzepte, Stategien, Bonn-Bad Godesberg, S. 177-218



18

WG 5: Integrated Approaches in Evaluating Sustainable Development

Anneke von Raggamby, Ecologic Institute, Berlin (Chair)

Contact Head of European Affairs, Senior Fellow, tel.: +49 (0)30 868 800, e-mail: [email protected], www.ecologic.eu/, Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Straße 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany Fields of research: EU environmental policy and governance, sustainable development and impact assessment, EU enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, integration of environmental requirements into other policy areas, administrative capacity building Selected publications and projects: Gerdes, Holger; Raggamby, Anneke von (2008): The policy impacts of environmental valuations. Ökologisches Wirtschaften, Nr. 4/2008, 28-29. Berglund, Maria; Raggamby, Anneke von (2007): Horizontal Environmental EC Legislation. European Communities, Brussels. Raggamby, Anneke von (2006): Leben ist Bewegung, in Hauff, Volker; Günther Bachmann (Hrsg.): Unterm Strich. Erbschaften und Erblasten für das Deutschland von morgen. Eine Generationenbilanz. Oekom verlag, München 2006, p. 115-124.

Michael Pahle, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam:

Mainstreaming Climate Change into EU Electricity Policies - An assessment of stakeholder consultations within the policy formulation process

Sustainability has only recently been introduced as a central objective of energy and electricity policies in the EU. Basically it has been conceptualized as combating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power generation. Due to traditional associations with various fields, political strategies and instruments are in the authority of various directorates. First we outline that a main responsibility is located at DG TREN, which essentially contributes to regulatory processes and political strategies. We then investigate the diversity and agendas of the stakeholder forums organized by DG TREN, which are the only structured participatory processes within the policy formulation process. Our results suggest that separate jurisdictions inhibit the integration of interlinked issues in general, and that climate change as such has never become the topic of discussions in particular.

Contact Michael Pahle, Dipl.-Phys., tel.: +49 (0)331 28 82 687, e-mail: [email protected], http://www.pik-potsdam.de/members/pahle, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Telegrafenberg A51 Raum 29, 14473 Potsdam, Germany

Fields of research: EU Energy Policies, Investment & Technology Choide in the Electricity Sector, Dynamic Efficiency in Regulation Selected publications and projects: ADAM - Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies (EU FP6)

Dr. Katharina Helming, Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF), Müncheberg:

Integrated approaches for ex-ante impact assessment tools – the example of land use

Land use is among key human activities, which, through the exploitation of natural resources, foster socio-economic development and alter structures and processes in the landscape. European land use policies aim to promote sustainability pathways of natural resources use and rural development through the decoupling of



19

economic growth from environmental degradation while supporting social cohesion. In recent years, integrated foresight and assessment studies have emerged aiming at providing discussion and decision support to land use policy making through the anticipation of possible, intended and unintended effects of land use change scenarios on sustainable development targets. The European research project SENSOR was among those. It developed quantitative (model based) and qualitative (participatory) tools for ex-ante impact assessment of multifunctional land use in European regions. The presentation will provide an overview of the study and discuss achievements and challenges in the light of evaluating sustainable development and policy assessment.

Contact Dr. Katharina Helming, Scientist at the directorate of ZALF, tel.: +49 (0)33432 821 55, e-mail: [email protected], www.zalf.de, www.sensor-ip.eu, Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF), Eberswalder Str. 84, D15374 Müncheberg, Germany Fields of research: multifunctional land use, impact assessment, soil conservation

Selected publications and projects: Schößer, B., Helming, K., Wiggering, H. (2009): Assessing Land Use Change Impacts – a com-parison of the Land Use Function approach with other frameworks. J. of Land Use Science (accepted) Helming, K., Perez-Soba, M., Tabbush, P. (Eds) (2008): Sustainability impact assessment of land use changes. Springer. Berlin. 507 pp SENSOR - Sustainability Impact Assessment: Tools for Environmental, Social and Economic Effects of Multifunctional Land Use in European Regions. FP6 IP 2204-2009

Dr. Bernd Hirschl, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin:

Impact Assessment as a tool to regard sustainability aspects within EU policies - theory and practise in the case of biofuels

There has been a highly controversial debate about the sustainability of biofuels over the last few years. Also the EU policies in this area – over all the implementation of a 10% minimum target for biofuels in transport – have been sharply criticized due to growing social and ecological problems on a global scale. In 2002 the European Commission announced to carry out Impact Assessments (IAs) for “all major initiatives”. This also affected several biofuel-related strategies, action plans and directives. According to the goal of sustainable development IAs are meant to assess economic, social and environmental impacts of different potential strategy options and to provide a scientific basis for the development of Commission proposals. Yet, how strongly do they really influence political decisions? In this paper the findings of relevant biofuel-related IAs will be presented and their actual impact on final policies will be analyzed.

Contact Dr. Bernd Hirschl, Head of Research Field Sustainable Energy and Climate Protection, tel.: +49 (0)30 884 594 0, e-mail: [email protected], www.ioew.de, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Potsdamer Str. 105, 10785 Berlin, Germany

Fields of research: Development, analysis and assessment of energy and climate policies, strategies and instruments; Inter- and transdisciplinary research and analysis of innovations and markets in the energy sector; special knowledge in renewable energy markets and policies (power, biofuels, heat) as well as energy efficiency Selected publications and projects: Hirschl, B. (2008): Erneuerbare Energien-Politik. Eine Multi-level Policy-Analyse mit Fokus auf den deutschen Strommarkt; VS-Verlag, Wiesbaden



20

Brunnengräber, A., Dietz, K., Hirschl, B., Walk, H., Weber, M. (2008): Das Klima neu denken - Eine sozial-ökologische Perspektive auf die lokale, nationale und internationale Klimapolitik; Westfälisches Dampfboot, Münster Hirschl, B. (2008): The conflicts with biofuels - central problems, approaches and open questions. Presentation at the 12. European Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production (erscp2008), September, 23rd-25th, 2008, Berlin

Froukje Maria Platjouw, University of Oslo:

Exploring the relationship between ex-ante impact assessment methodology and the degree of consistency in environmental governance

Natural resource management is a highly challenging occupation affecting unique, non-replaceable natural resources on which human well-being depends. The difficulty with managing natural resources sustainable is particularly due to the organization of environmental governance. The fact that there are a multitude of disciplines involved in the field of environmental governance - law, politics, economics, and natural sciences - makes coherent environmental governance difficult. The aim of environmental policy integration, as a principle strongly advocated by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987, and subsequently in Agenda 21, refers to the integration of environmental objectives and considerations into sector policy-making and planning (e.g. energy, transport, agriculture etc.) and is a key principle for realising sustainable development. In this context, the instrument of ex-ante impact assessments plays an important role. This contribution aims to explore how the economic fragment of environmental governance influences the policy decision and whether there is a relationship between the method of ex-ante balancing and weighing of conflicting interests and the degree of coherence and consistency in environmental governanceThe presentation will provide an overview on innovation and trends in Impact Assessment in Europe. It will be shown that there is an increased interest in ex ante assessment of policies, and accordingly IA systems are introduced or being reformed in almost every member state of the Union. However, there is no uniform model for IA systems and the practice varies considerably. The potentials and limits of IA will be discussed in particular regarding the integration of SD requirements in policy making. The presentation will be based on an overview on IA systems in all 27 MS, as well as case studies and surveys in selected MS. Conclusions will be drawn on options for an enhanced consideration of SD aspects in Impact Assessment and Policy Making.

Contact Froukje Maria Platjouw, PhD Research Fellow, tel.: +47 22 85 0239, e-mail: [email protected], http://www.jus.uio.no/ior/om/ansatte/froukjep/froukjep-eng.xml, University of Oslo, Institute of Public and International Law, St. Olavs Plass 5, NO-0130 Oslo, Norway Fields of research: Environmental law and governance, Impact Environmental economics, International and European law Selected publications and projects: Flatjouw, F. M. (2008): Reducing greenhouse gas emissions at home or abroad? A study on the supplementarity requirement for the flexibility mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol. Oslo: Department of Public and International Law 2008 (ISBN 978 82-8063-078-0) 111 pp.



21

WG 6 a/b: Science Policy Interface R. Andreas Kraemer, Ecologic Institute, Berlin (Chair) For more information see p. 5.

Ingeborg Fiala, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria:

The Austrian Pacemaker for Sustainable Development, a tool for developing policies and legislation

Sustainable development requires the consideration of very different aspects. An active approach was chosen to integrate these various concerns in the designing of policies and legislation. The Austrian pacemaker for sustainable development leads in 12 steps through the process for developing policies and legislation. The process integrates sustainable development aspects and enables the participation of stakeholders and public.

The manual describes the key steps to be carried out and gives back ground information in relation to the understanding of sustainable development. Worksheets containing questions to be answered are provided in the manual. The pacemaker is designed as a flexible tool to adapt to the individual existing challenges. Initial experience was gained by applying the pacemaker in the preparation of the amendment of the Austrian environmental subsidies guidelines.

Contact Ingeborg Fiala, Senior advisor, tel.: +43 (0)151 522 2545, e-mail: [email protected], Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Unit II/3, A-1010, Stubenbastei 5, Austria Fields of research: indicators for Sustainability Development, evaluation Selected publications and projects: Brunner, N., Fiala, I., Wimmer, J. (2002): Vergleichen und Entscheiden im Umweltschutz; Angewandte Umweltforschung Band 18, Analytica Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin

Dr. Reinhard Steurer / Dr. André Martinuzzi, BOKU University, Vienna / Research Institute for Managing Sustainability, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration:

Knowledge-based Governance for Sustainable Development: A Typology of Appraisals around the Policy Cycle.

This presentation focuses on the science-policy interface in the context of sustainable development. It first shows how the relationship between science and policy making is conceptualised in the literature and what functions knowledge can assume in the political context. The presentation then groups different forms of appraisals and feedback around a cyclical model of sustainable development strategies. By doing so, it shows how different forms of appraisal complement each other in informing policy-making in the field of sustainable development. Based on the observation that appraisals assume different functions depending on their place around the policy cycle, the presentation concludes that the phrase “knowledge-based governance” grasps only half of the science-policy interface. Since the generation of knowledge is also shaped by policy making, more attention should be paid to the question how "governance-based knowledge generation" works.

Contacts Dr. Reinhard Steurer, Universitätsassistent, tel.: +43 147 654 4430, e-mail: [email protected], http://www.wiso.boku.ac.at/13020.html?&L=1, Institut für Wald-, Umwelt- und Ressourcenpolitik, BOKU - Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, Feistmantelstr. 4, 1180 Vienna, Austria

Fields of research: Governance and Policies of Sustainable Develoment in Europe; Environmental and Climate Policies;Business-Government Relations: Public Policies on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Europe



22

Selected publications and projects: Steurer, R. (2009): Corporate Social Responsibility and the Role of Governments: Characterising Public Policies on CSR in Europe; in: Policy Sciences; forthcoming Steurer, R. (2007): From Government Strategies to Strategic Public Management: An Exploratory Outlook on the Pursuit of Cross-Sectoral Policy Integration, in: European Environment, 17/3, 201-214 Steurer, R. & Martinuzzi, A. (2005): Towards a New Pattern of Strategy Formation in the Public Sector: First Experiences with National Strategies for Sustainable Development in Europe, in: Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 23/3, 455-472

Dr. André Martinuzzi, Head of the Institute, Associate Professor, [email protected], Research Institute for Managing Sustainability, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Nordbergstr. 15, 1090 Vienna, Austria Fields of research: Sustainable development in the public and private sector Selected publications and projects: Galla, J., Kopp, U., Martinuzzi, A., Störmer, E. (2008): „Programmakteursaufstellungen – erste Erfahrungen mit Systemaufstellungen in theoriebasierten Evaluationen (Focus on actors – Initial experiences with system constellations in theory-based evaluations)”, in: Zeitschrift für Evaluation (Journal for Evaluation), 1/2008, pp. 35-73 Konrad, A., Martinuzzi, A., Steurer, R. (2008): When Business Associations and a Federal Ministry Jointly Consult Civil Society: A CSR Policy Case Study on the Development of the CSR Austria Guiding Vision, in: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Volume 15, pp. 270–280 Schylander, E., Martinuzzi, A. (2007): ISO 14001 - Experiences, effects and future challenges; A national study in Austria, in: Business Strategy and the Environment, Volume 16, Number 2, pp. 133–147

Peter de Smedt, DG Research, European Commission, Brussels:

Assessment tools for sustainable policy measures in Europe

The purpose of this presentation is to analyse how in Europe assessment instruments have been developed and used in order to provide a solid foundation for sustainable policy measures. The analysis involved a scoping study in spring 2008 to evaluate and compare different current practices. The scoping study included 15 European impact assessment initiatives - concerning natural resources, biodiversity, energy, agriculture and trade - and examines on the basis of a set of criteria the empirical evidence through the lens of users via document analysis and interviews. The empirical evidence of this scoping study confirms a broad variety of successfully established sustainability assessment related initiatives in Europe and the interviewed policy- makers and researchers find the IA approaches legitimate on a conceptual basis. Formal activities and guidance for IA, for example, are well established within the EC. Both communities however acknowledge that the full potential of assessment tools to support sustainable policy measures in practice is not yet met. Researchers often find the scope of the current IA exercise too narrow in terms of scope and content to support real change in order to anticipate the unsustainable developments. Yet, the contribution of a formal IA exercise should be evaluated in its full context, and therefore analysing it as part of a broader policy process. The framing of the policy question for example, has most often been established before the IA exercise was initiated. In addition, research driven assessment projects often struggle to bridge the gap between research perspectives and the formal policy process. Consequently, research outcomes do not fully reach the policy-makers.



23

Contact Peter de Smedt, Scientific Officer, +32 2 299 2905, e-mail: [email protected], European Commission - DG Research, Environment - Sustainable Development Unit I.2, CDMA 03/94, Marsveldstraat 21, 1049 Brussels, Belgium

Nicole Dewandre / Katerina Hejdova / Wanda Gaj / Peter De Smedt, DG Research, European Commission, Brussels:

Enhancing connectivity between research and policymaking in sustainable development

The purpose of this presentation is to provide a first overview of the different proposed research approaches. The comparison involves an analysis of i. the policy-related issue with an "untapped potential" of research; ii. the "research reservoir"; and iii. the "bridging method" through which the proposer intends to exploit the research reservoir to address the policy-related question/issue. Based on our experience and analysis, we clearly believe that this activity will lead to an increased use of research for sustainable policy measures. This is in line with one of the policy guiding principles of the renewed EU SDS, i.e. the use of best available knowledge, and will enhance the connectivity between research and policymaking in sustainable development. Contact Peter de Smedt, Scientific Officer, +32 2 299 2905, e-mail: [email protected], European Commission - DG Research, Environment - Sustainable Development Unit I.2, CDMA 03/94, Marsveldstraat 21, 1049 Brussels, Belgium

Dr. Ingeborg Niestroy, European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils, Brussels:

Impact Assessment or: longing for the 42?

Impact Assessment is in principle a useful instrument as attempt to rationalize policy-making. Official language emphasises that IA is an aid for policy-making, not a substitute. However, as experience with Environmental IA and especially with the IA system of the European Commission shows, there seems to be a “desire” to consider the results of IAs’ as if they were the one best answer for the decision at stake. This desire may occur among all actors – scientists, politicians and stakeholders -, but the emphasis on certain methodologies that typically require monetization, seems to suggest this more specifically. The presentation argues for an understanding of IA that fosters its potential as procedural tool that brings together different kinds of knowledge and establishes a structured process that provides for deliberation and learning between different frames and coalitions. Methods, as well as assumptions made within a method, need to be made transparent, and choices are to be made in the political domain. The presentation will provide an overview on innovation and trends in Impact Assessment in Europe. It will be shown that there is an increased interest in ex ante assessment of policies, and accordingly IA systems are introduced or being reformed in almost every member state of the Union. However, there is no uniform model for IA systems and the practice varies considerably. The potentials and limits of IA will be discussed in particular regarding the integration of SD requirements in policy making. The presentation will be based on an overview on IA systems in all 27 MS, as well as case studies and surveys in selected MS. Conclusions will be drawn on options for an enhanced consideration of SD aspects in Impact Assessment and Policy Making.

Contact Dr. Ingeborg Niestroy, Secretary General, e-mail: [email protected], European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils (EEAC), Brussels, Belgium Fields of research: Governance for sustainable development, strategies for sustainable development (incl. governance of



24

strategies), comparative view; Impact Assessment / Strategic Environmental Assessment; Knowledge transfer from science and stakeholders to policy-making Selected publications and projects: Niestroy, I. (2008): Sustainability Impact Assessment and Regulatory Impact Assessment. In: OECD (ed.): Conducting Sustainability Assessments, p. 67-88. OECD Sustainable Development Studies Niestroy, I. (2007): Stimulating informed debate – Sustainable Development Councils in EU Member States. A compilation of tasks, capacities, and best practice. Study commissioned by the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) Niestroy, I. (2006): Achievements and challenges for national sustainable development strategies in the EU: a governance perspective, in: M. Pallemaerts & A. Azmanova (eds.): The EU and Sustainable Development: Internal and External Dimensions, VUB University Press, Brussels, p. 129-156

Dr. Serenella Sala, University of Milano Bicocca:

Strengths and weaknesses of the integration between science and policy in tourism planning

The challenge of sustainable tourism is represented by the ability of defining a framework of development in which environmental protection, cultural identity (in terms of historical, artistic, gastronomic and traditional aspects), sustainable production and consumption models are integrated with local economic context and requirements. The presented case study refers to a participatory process for sustainable tourism development in a tourist destination in Italy (the implementation of European Charter for Sustainable Development in protected Areas): the whole process is a good example of integration between science and policy because the definition of the strategy of development is the result of a three-stage analysis, based on the integration between objective data (systematized in a diagnostic report), subjective data (coming from the analysis of the perception of local community, tourism operators and tourists) and strategic surveys with local and not local stakeholder (interviews and vision of future trend in a wider context).

Contact Dr. Serenella Sala, Researcher, University of Milano Bicocca, Environmental Science, Milano, Italy

Fields of research: Sustainable development, Sustainable tourism, Local planning Selected publications and projects: Project of implementation of European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas, developing new tools for integrating scientific results and policy planning Castellani, V., Sala, S. (2008): Ecological Footprint: a way to assess impact of tourists’ choices at local scale, in: Pineda, F.D., Brebbia, C.A. (Eds.): Sustainable Tourism III. WIT Press, Southampton Castellani, V., Lombardo, A., Sala, S. (2007): Strategy for sustainable mountain tourism. A private – public synergy for local development”, proceedings of III International Seminar on Mountain Tourism “Sustainable Tourism in mountain protected areas – building partnership between NGOs and managers of protected areas”, Sucha Beskidzka, Poland, 25 – 28 Octobre 2007

Dr. Klaus Jacob / Lucienne Damm, Freie Universität Berlin:

Appraising Good Governance for Sustainable Development

The presentation will provide an overview on innovation and trends in Impact Assessment in Europe. It will be shown that there is an increased interest in ex ante assessment of policies, and accordingly IA systems are introduced or being reformed in almost every member state of the Union. However, there is no uniform model for IA systems and the practice varies considerably. The potentials and limits of IA will be discussed in particular regarding the integration of SD requirements in policy making. The presentation will be based on an



25

overview on IA systems in all 27 MS, as well as case studies and surveys in selected MS. Conclusions will be drawn on options for an enhanced consideration of SD aspects in Impact Assessment and Policy Making.

Contact Dr. Klaus Jacob, Research Director, tel.: +49 (0)30 838 544 92 , e-mail: [email protected], www.fu-berlin.de/ffu, Environmental Policy Research Centre, FFU Berlin, Ihnestraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany Fields of research: Policy Analysis, Impact Assessment, Environmental Policy and Innovation Selected publications and projects: Hertin, J., Jacob, K., Pesch, U., Pacchi, C. (2009): The Production and Use of Knowledge in Regulatory Impact Assessment. An empirical analysis. In Forest Policy and Economics, in print Jacob, K., Hertin, J. et. al. (2008): Improving the Practice of Impact Assessment. EVIA Policy Paper. Berlin EVIA – Evaluating Integrated Impact Assessment

Timo Kaphengst / Katharina Umpfenbach, Ecologic Institute, Berlin:

Can science make policy-makers think twice? – The role of research results in EU decision-making on biofuels

In January 2008 the European Commission unveiled its proposal for a Directive on the promotion of energies form renewable sources as part of the EU Climate and Energy Package. The Directive includes a specific 10% minimum target for the final energy used in road transport to come from renewable energies. Moreover, all biofuel products counting towards the target must meet a set of sustainability criteria. Until the adoption of the Renewables Directive in December 2009, the controversial discussions among EU decision-makers were fuelled by a number of statements and studies from science and interest groups moving the discourse in different directions. Among the most controversial issues were the negative environmental and social impacts of highly increased expansion of biomass production in different countries. Using the discussion on biofuels as a case study, the paper aims at assessing the significance of science in political debates and decisions by comparing the original proposal with the final text of the Directive.

Contacts Timo Kaphengst, Fellow, tel.: +49 (0)30 868 800, e-mail: [email protected], http://ecologic.eu/, Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Straße 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany Fields of research: Biomass and Bioenergy, Agricultural Policies, Forest Policies Selected publications and projects: Kaphengst, T., Ma, M. and Schlegel, S. (2009): At a tipping point? How the debate on biofuel standards sparks innovative ideas for the general future of standardisation and certification schemes. Journal of Cleaner Production (available soon) Schlegel, S., Kaphengst, T. (2007): European Union Policy on Bioenergy and the Role of Sustainability Criteria and Certification Systems. Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, Jg. 5, Nr. 2, Article 7, 17 p. Kaphengst, T. (2007): Nachhaltige Biomassenutzung in Europa [Sustainable biomass use in Europe]. GAIA 16/2, p. 93-97

Katharina Umpfenbach, tel.: +49 (0)30 868 800, e-mail: [email protected], http://ecologic.eu/, Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Straße 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany

Fields of research: advancement of renewable energies in national and European context. Selected publications and projects: Umpfenbach, K. (2007): Regulating the heat market to encourage low-carbon technologies. A comparison of the UK and Germany



26

WG 7: Integrated Approaches in Evaluating Regional Sustainable Development

Anneke von Raggamby, Ecologic Institute, Berlin (Chair) For more information see p. 18.

Jean Hugé, Vrije Universiteit Brussel: Institutional barriers and opportunities facing sustainability assessment in Flanders, Belgium

In Flanders, the institutionalisation of sustainable development is evolving rapidly. The Policy Research Centre for Sustainable Development is currently developing a customised sustainability assessment framework.

We analysed institutional barriers and opportunities at micro-, meso- and macro-level in Flanders, by way of a stakeholder consultation and through expert interviews. Preliminary results emphasise the importance of learning effects and the lack of consensus on the transformative function of sustainability assessments. There is a tendency to embed sustainability assessment into existing mechanisms such as Regulatory Impact Analysis, thereby avoiding significant reframings of the policy preparation framework. This is an underestimate of sustainability assessment’s potential, but it might only be a first step towards increasingly mature institutions for sustainable development in Flanders. The challenge is to provide decision-makers with a sustainability assessment framework that makes full use of the exercise’s learning potential while also allowing the application of a practical tool on policy proposals to yield short-term quality improvements.

Contact Jean Hugé, Researcher, tel.: +32 247 749 26, e-mail: [email protected], www.vub.ac.be/MEKO & www.steunpuntdo.be, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Human Ecology Department and Policy Research Centre for Sustainable Development, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Elsene, Belgium Fields of research: sustainability assessment, environmental policy integration, strategic environmental assessment (SEA) Selected publications and projects: Hugé, J. and Hens, L. (2007): Sustainability Assessment of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal Volume 25, Number 4, December 2007, pp.247-258. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/beech/iapa/2007/00000025/00000004/art00001

Hugé, J. and Hens, L. (2009): Greening Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: a process approach to sustainability assessment. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal Volume 27, Number 1, pp. 7-18. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/beech/iapa/2009/00000027/00000001/art00002

Research Project 2007-2011 (ongoing) within the frame of the Flemish Policy Research Centre for Sustainable Development: Sustainability assessment in Flanders. www.steunpuntdo.be

Dr. Jenny Atmanagara, University of Bern:

The Cultural Landscape Concept as an Approach for Designing Sustainability Evaluations

Against the background of public policies in Switzerland (IDARIO 2002 and 2008; ARE 2008) and alongside the core elements of sustainable development this paper will discuss the suitability of the Swiss Landscape Concept (BUWAL & BRP 1998) for the design and implementation of sustainability evaluations. The presentation will focus on the potential contributions of this concept, methodological requirements, the measurement of effects, problems which can occur during implementation and the integration of the evaluations' findings into political decision-making. For this purpose the author will present examples and



27

experiences from several research projects, particularly her research on the evaluation of the Swiss aid for transport and tourist infrastructure and its impacts on regional development.

Finally, the author will deduce conclusions and recommendations with regard to the design of sustainability evaluations, the strengths and weaknesses of the cultural landscape concept for these evaluations, and the implications of this approach for political-decision making.

Contact Dr. Jenny Atmanagara, Research Fellow and Lecturer, tel.: +41 316 318 838, e-mail: [email protected], www.geography.unibe.ch, University of Bern, Institute of Geography, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland Fields of research: regional development, tourism and transport, cultural landscape Selected publications and projects: Essig, M., Atmanagara, J., Egli, H.-R. (2009) (in print): A Spatial Typology as a Basis for Landscape Management in Switzerland, in: Laure Léveque (ed.): Heritage, Images, and Memory of European Landscapes. (contribution for COST A27 LANDMARKS) Atmanagara, J. (2008): Evaluation der Schweizer Infrastrukturförderung. Politische Strategien für einen nachhaltigen Verkehr in einer Tourismusregion. Geographica Bernensia G78. Bern

Atmanagara, J., Egli, H.-R.; Zajc, G. (2005): The Role of Landscape in Current European and National Policies, in: Pfefferkorn, W., Egli, H.-R., and Massarutto, A. (eds.) 2005: Regional Development and Cultural Landscape Change in the Alpine Space – The Challenge of Polarisation. Geographica Bernensia G74, pp. 115-135, Bern

Keti Medarova-Bergström, Central European University, Budapest:

The Role of Environmental Assessments for Environmental Policy Integration: A Case Study of the EU Structural and Cohesion Funds Programming in Bulgaria

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) referred here as ecological assessment (EA), is a critical tool for integrating environmental concerns into planning and decision-making and hence improving governance for sustainability. Therefore, its application and impact on the policy-making can be a useful indicator for measuring the progress towards environmental policy integration (EPI). This paper looks at EA in the planning of the EU structural and cohesion funds in Bulgaria by exploring procedural criteria derived from the literature on EPI. The research suggests that authorities deploy EA largely in order to fulfill the requirements for harmonization with EU environmental acquis while failing to comprehend its value and benefits for integrated planning. Therefore, EA have little impact on the actual decision-making and rarely makes regional planning “greener”.

Contact Keti Medarova-Bergström, PhD candidate, e-mail: [email protected], http://www.cepl.ceu.hu/node/27, Central European University, Environmental Sciences and Policy Department, Nador 9, Budapest 1051, Bulgaria Fields of research: environmental policy integration, regional development, sustainability evaluations Selected publications and projects: Antypas, A., Peev, P. and Medarova-Bergström, K. (2008): Manual for Integrating Rio Conventions' Objectives into Regional Development Processes. UNDP: Bulgaria Medarova-Bergström, K. (2008): Greening Transportation. VDM Verlag Dr. Muller: Saarbrücken. ISBN: 978-3-8364-7828-1

Medarova-Bergström, K. et al. (2007): The Case of EPI in Central and Eastern Europe. EPIGOV Papers 23. Ecologic: Berlin.



28

Dr. Wim Haarmann, Telos - Tilburg University:

Participation in monitoring sustainable development

The main problem in developing a monitor for sustainable development is the fundamental question of what SD should entail. In the debate two positions are distinguished. The first position argues that it is impossible, and sometimes even undesirable to come to a universally applicable meaning of SD. Stakeholders have to define criteria in a process of permanent negotiation. The second position claims that there are (measurable) limits to the carrying capacity of the global ecosystem and that the economic and social system should develop within these ecological limits. We chose a position in between. To guide stakeholders we provide them with a three-pillar framework and requirements for the carrying capacity, justice and participation. In applying the method we found out that the framework proved to be a good tool to improve the communication between actors with different opinions and interests.

Contact Dr. Wim Haarmann, www.telos.nl, Telos - Tilburg University, Brabant Centre for Sustainable Development Fields of research: Regional development, Monitoring sustainble develop, effectiveness of Policy networks and public-private partnerships Selected publications and projects: Knippenberg, L. W. J., Hermans, F.L.P., Haarmann, W.M.F. (2006): Towards Asessment for Sustainability, in The Organisation of Innovation and Transition, Vol. 2, pp. 62-86, Transforum/Agro & Groen Horlings L. and Haarmann, W.M.F. (2007): The soft stuff is the hard stuff; Vital coalitions in rural-urban regions, Paper for the ESRS conference, August 2007 Knippenberg, L.W.J. et al. (2007): Developing Tools for the Assessment of Sustainable Development in the Province of Brabant, the Netherlands, in: Hak, T. Sustainability Indicators: A Scientific Assessment, Island Press



29

WG 8: Institutionalization of Sustainability Evaluation Dr. Frieder Rubik, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Office Heidelberg (Chair) Contact Head of the research field ecological product policy, tel.: +49 6221-64916-6, email: [email protected], www.ioew.de, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, office Heidelberg, Bergstraße 7, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany Fields of research: Integrated Product Policy (IPP), Environmental and social labelling, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), innovation and diffusion of ecologically sound technologies and products, Evaluation Selected publications and projects: Rubik, Frieder; Scholl, Gerd; Biedenkopf, Katja; Kalimo, Harri; Mohaupt, Franziska; Söebech, Ólöf; Stø, Eivind; Strandbakken, Pål; Turnheim, Bruno (2009): Promoting Sustainable Consumption. New Policy Approaches, Berlin/Brussels/Oslo Gold, Stefan; Rubik, Frieder (2009): Consumer attitudes towards timber as a construction material and towards timber frame houses – selected findings of a representative survey among the German population Rubik, Frieder; Frankl, Paolo; Pietroni, Lucia; Scheer, Dirk (2007): Eco-labelling and consumers – Towards a re-focus and integrated approaches, in: International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development (IJISD), Vol. 2 - Issue 2 – 2007, p. 175-191.

Jakub Koniecki, European Commission, Secretariat General, Brussels:

The European Commission's Impact Assessment system – how to ensure a good quality?

Background The EU Sustainable Development Strategy in 2001 called i.e. for a new approach to policy making to ensure that the EU's economic, social and environmental policies mutually reinforce each other. Impact Assessment was designed as a key instrument to deliver this objective and each major proposal from the Commission would have to be subject to it. The revision of the EU SDS in 2006 reconfirmed the pivotal role of the Better Regulation agenda and of impact assessments. It called for the integration of economic, social and environmental considerations so that they are coherent and mutually reinforce each other by making full use of instruments for better regulation, such as balanced impact assessment and stakeholder consultations.

Quality control Compliance with the requirements of the IA guidelines is tested in everyday practice, starting from stakeholder consultation in the preparatory phase, through the inter-service consultation, and final 'verification' when the proposal is discussed by the Legislator. A major additional check was introduced in 2006 with the creation of the Impact Assessment Board. The IAB examines all impact assessments before an inter-service consultation can be launched. The composition of the IAB reflects the three pillars of the sustainable development strategy. IAB opinions are available internally in the Commission before adoption of a proposal, and later to the general public once the proposal is adopted. The IAB reports every year on its activities, including an overall assessment of the quality of the Commission's impact assessments and identification of areas where further improvements can be made. A horizontal assessment of the Commission IA system was carried out in 2007 in an external evaluation (by TEP). With regard to the SDS and BR the TEP evaluation stated that, contrary to practices in most countries, the scope of application of the EU IA system is wider and covers not only legislative proposals, and that whereas focus in other countries is often assessment of the economic impacts, the Commission emphasises an approach that is balanced across the economic, social and environmental dimensions, and responds not only to the demands of Better Regulation, but also to those of Sustainable Development, which is quite a unique feature.



30

Another thorough assessment of the Commission IA system is currently being carried out by the European Court of Auditors and the results should be available early in 2010.

New developments

Following extensive stakeholder consultations, both internally and externally, the IA guidelines were revised in early 2009 to accommodate results of the evaluation and to take into account the work of the Impact Assessment Board. The revision in 2009 of the Inter-institutional agreement on better-law making, where the IA is an important component, may also lead to further refinements of the system.

Contact Jakub Koniecki, Policy Analyst - Desk Officer, tel.: +32 229 573 38, e-mail: [email protected], http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/index_en.htm, European Commission, Secretariat General, C.2 Better Regulation and Impact Assessment, BERL 6/23, 1049 Bruxelles, Belgium Selected publications and projects: Koniecki, J. (2008): Comparing Ex ante and Ex post Cost Assessments of Environmental Regulations – Some Lessons, in: Le Roux, J., Sherpa, T., Williams, E. (Eds): Economic appraisal of environmental regulation, 133 – 149

Gustav Jakob Petersson, Department of Economic History Umeå University:

A Welfare State Perspective on Institutionalization of Evaluation

In this presentation institutionalization of evaluation is discussed in relation to different welfare state models, the lead question being: why is evaluation performed by different actors in different countries of the western world? The hypothesis brought forth to discussion is that conceptions influencing the choice of welfare state model also influence how evaluation is institutionalized. Sustainability evaluation is discussed as a case.

This hypothesis draws on experiences made in 2006 within the international research project "Evaluation roots in the USA and in Europe – tracing traditions?", organized by Mälardalen Evaluation Academy, Sweden, and has been discussed in previous papers by Gustav Jakob Petersson, Umeå University, and Ove Karlsson Vestman, Mälardalen University.

Contact Gustav Jakob Petersson, tel.: +46 (0)90 786 9660, e-mail: [email protected], http://www.ekhist.umu.se/personal/anstalld_eng.php?id=38, Umeå University, Department of Economic History, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden Fields of research: Evaluation of Public Policy; Financial history, Insurance History with a Focus on Marine Insurance and Reinsurance; Monetary Regimes Selected publications and projects: Petersson, G. J.,and Vestman, O. K. (2007): Conceptions of Evaluation, edited by The Swedish Agency for Networks and Cooperation in Higher Education as research report number 8, 2007. To be downloaded from: http://www.nshu.se/download/6229/2007_8conceptionsofevaluation.pdf Petersson, G. J. (2006): Program Theory Evaluation of public-private agreements on environmental programmes and projects" presented at the EASY-ECO-conference 11-14 October 2006, Saarbrücken, ”Improving the Quality of Sustainable Development Projects”: www.europeanevaluation.org/download/?id=1408656&download=1



31

Petersson, G. J. and Vestman, O. K. (2007): Conceptions of evaluation - a welfare allocation perspective" presented at the Swedish Evaluation Society conference 24-26 October 2007, Stockholm, ”Utvärdering pågår - Pågår utvärdering? [Evaluation performed - Evaluation performed?]"

Dr. Tom Bauler, Université Libre de Bruxelles:

Sustainability Impact Assessment for policy making: institutionalization and early practice in federal Belgium

Federal Belgium administration is currently starting to experiment with the implementation of a Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) scheme in order to assess its policy proposals in an integrated manner against a series of sustainable development criteria. In 2006, a study defined, discussed and submitted to stakeholders and policy actors a series of 5 ‘implementation scenarios’ (see Bauler et al., 2006) in order to facilitate an informed configuration of this SIA-process. These scenarios ranged from understanding SIA as a way of maximizing participatory policy learning, to configuring the assessment process so as to facilitate to emergence of evidence for policy-making.

With the present paper we intend to continue the discussion of the Belgian SIA-scheme, this time against early practice of SIA within the federal administration. The analysis will be conducted at two distinct levels. First, we will discuss the current SIA-process (as it has been configured by the federal policy maker in early 2007) against the preceding theoretically defined SIA ‘implementation scenarios’. Doing so we show which interpretation of SIA prevailed within the federal policy actors’ SD-arena. Second, we will report on the recent and emerging practice of SIA as it is currently (since mid-2008) conducted by the implementation actors, i.e. the Sustainable Development Cells and the leading civil servants. In effect, responsibility of the conduct of the SIA is shared : the coordination of the SIA assessments are partly laid in the hands of SD-cells (i.e. ‘virtual’ and horizontal task forces organized within each federal administration or ministry), while the execution of the evaluation itself is conduced by the respective policy officer(s). Today, a very limited number of SIA-screening processes have been conducted, and (to our knowledge) no full-size SIA is available, even if there exists since early 2008 a formal obligation to perform them. We will discuss the difficulties which the SIA-scheme seems to encounter today, also on the basis of an ongoing empirical exercise we are conducting and which tries to draw a consensual (i.e. a Delphi-procedure) picture of the expectations the civil servants within the Sustainable Development Cells are raising with regard to SIA.

The aim of the paper is to continue to draw a ‘real-time’ analytical picture of how Belgian federal administration receives, incorporates and operates this SIA-scheme, whose basic conceptual features (i.e. be participatory, open, transparent, integrated, systematic and systemic…) seem to some extent counter-intuitive to the current federal policy-making culture and practice.

Contact Dr. Tom Bauler, Research and Lecturer, tel.: +32 265 049 24, e-mail: [email protected], www.ulb.ac.be/igeat, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Center for Studies on Sustainable Development, ULB-IGEAT cp130-02, av FD Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium Fields of research: sustainable development governance issues, indicators for SD, public policy instruments



32

Selected publications and projects: Bauler, T., Bonifazi, A., Torre, C.M. (2008): Is there room for equity in European Commission Policy-Making? An evaluation of selected impact assessment reports, in: Miller, D., Khakee, A., Hull, A., Woltjer, J. (eds): New Principles in Planning Evaluation. Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot Bauler, T. (2006): Institutionalized evaluations of sustainable development in Belgium : the future of a federal Sustainability Impact Assessment process, in: Schubert U., Stormer E. (eds), Evaluating sustainable development in Europe – concepts, methods and applications. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK Bauler, T. (2006): The Commission’s Impact Assessment process : handling the external dimension of sustainability, in: Pallemaerts M., Azmanova A. (eds), The EU and Sustainable Development : internal and external dimensions. VUB – Press, Brussels, Belgium Bauler T., Bonifazi A., Wäktare M. (2006), Exploring the feasibility of a Sustainability Impact Assessment procedure for federal policies in Belgium. In : George C., Kirkpatrick C. (eds), Impact Assessment for a new Europe and Beyond. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK.

Anja Bauer, BOKU University, Vienna:

Strategic Environmental Assessment in Austria – Between end-of pipe reporting and integrated planning processes

Ex-ante assessments have become important instruments for Sustainable Development policies. Often, however, it is bemoaned that despite substantive requirements assessments in practice do not take effect and alter decision-making in a sustainable manner. Within this paper the implementation of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in Austria is discussed along its legal institutionalization, its different empirical models of the assessment procedure as well as its influence on decision-making in concerned planning areas. While the majority of SEAs in Austria follows a model of “end-of pipe reporting” where the SEA is seen as a compulsory exercise only and used to justify decisions afterwards, at the other end of the spectrum the SEA is understood as an integrated planning instrument and has lead to new procedures and actors’ constellations in the decision-making processes.

Contact Anja Bauer, PhD student, tel.: +43 147 654 4407, e-mail: [email protected], http://www.dokne.boku.ac.at/, BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Peter-Jordan Straße 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria Fields of research: sustainability policies, institutions and instruments, the role of expertise and (scientific) knowledge in political processes, assessment procedures and instruments Selected publications and projects: PhD-project - Institutional strategies for long-term oriented policy- making and planning.



33

Alphabetical Index of Contributors Atmanagara, Jenny ..................................... 26 Bauer, Anja ................................................. 32 Bauler, Tom ................................................ 31 Cörvers, Ron.................................................. 7 Dewandre, Nicole....................................4, 23 Fiala, Ingeborg............................................ 21 Görlach, Benjamin....................................... 14 Haarmann, Wim ......................................... 28 Hanemaaijer, Aldert ...................................... 8 Helming, Katharina ..................................... 18 Hirschl, Bernd .......................................10, 19 Hoffmann, Esther........................................ 12 Huelemeyer, Kerstin .................................... 16 Hugé, Jean.................................................. 26 Jakob, Klaus .........................................12, 24 Kaphengst, Timo......................................... 25 Kirkpatrick, Colin........................................... 5 Koniecki, Jakub ........................................... 29 Kopfmüller, Jürgen...................................... 11 Kraemer, R. Andreas ...............................5, 21 Lehtonen, Markku....................................... 15 Martinuzzi, André ...................................6, 21 Medarova-Bergström, Keti .......................... 27 Meves, Hans ................................................. 8 Meyer, Wolfgang ........................................ 10 Miège, Robin ................................................ 5 Mohaupt, Franziska .................................... 11 Niestroy, Ingeborg ...................................... 23 Pahle, Michael............................................. 18 Petersen, Arthur....................................10, 14 Petersson, Gustav Jakob.............................. 30 Platjouw, Froukje Maria .............................. 20 Raggamby, Anneke von ........................18, 26 Robaey, Zoë ................................................ 13 Rotmans, Jan ................................................ 4 Rubik, Frieder.............................................. 29 Sala, Serenella............................................. 24 Schiller, Simone Roberta ............................. 16 Smedt, Peter de ....................................22, 23 Sprenger, Rolf-Ulrich..................................... 4 Stame, Nicoletta ........................................... 4 Stanners, David............................................. 5 Steurer, Reinhard ........................................ 21 Stevens, Candice ......................................... 10 Stockmann, Reinhard.................................... 4 Turnpenny, John ........................................... 7 Umpfenbach, Katharina .............................. 25 Walser, Manfred ......................................... 15 White, Stephen ........................................... 12



1

Programme June 15th, 2009 Time Room Program

12.30 Beethoven Registration

13.00 Macke/Ernst Plenary I „Understanding Sustainability Evaluation and its Contribution to Policy-making“

15.00 Beethoven Coffee break

15.30-17.30 Working group session I

Macke/Ernst WG 1: Defining Sustainable Development as an Evaluation Object

Heine WG 2: Methodological Challenges in Evaluating Sustainable Development

Böll/ Lasker-Schüler

WG 3: Politics, Policy Styles and Evaluation

19.00 Beethoven Dinner June 16th, 2009 Time Room Program

09.00 Working group session II

Macke/Ernst WG 4: Methods for Evaluating Sustainable Development

Heine WG 5: Integrated Approaches in Evaluating Sustainable Development


WG 6 a: Science Policy Interface


11.30 Working group session III

Macke/Ernst WG 6 b: Science Policy Interface

Heine WG 7: Integrated Approaches in Evaluating Regional Sustainable Development


WG 8: Institutionalisation of Sustainability Evaluation

13.30 Beethoven Buffet Lunch

14.30 Plenary II „Increasing the Usefulness of Sustainability Evaluation”

16.30 Closing remarks and farewell

For detailed program please see the following pages….



2

June 15th, 2009 12.30 Beethoven Registration

Macke/Ernst Plenary I - Understanding Sustainability Evaluation and its Contribution to Policy-making

13.00

Esther Hoffmann, Dr. Frieder Rubik, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin (Chairs) Prof. Nicoletta Stame, University of Roma Prof. Reinhard Stockmann, Center for Evaluation, University of the Saarland, Saarbrücken Prof. Jan Rotmans, Erasmus University Rotterdam Nicole Dewandre, DG Research, European Commission, Brussels


Working group session I 15.30– 17.30

Macke/Ernst WG 1: Defining Sustainable Development as an Evaluation Object Dr. Bernd Hirschl, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin (Chair) Dr. John Turnpenny, University of East Anglia, Norwich: What are we assessing? Differing interpretations of sustainable development and implications for its assessment Dr. Ron Cörvers, International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development, Maastricht: Evaluating Sustainability Assessment Methods for Policy Aldert Hanemaaijer, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven & The Hague: How to Select Policy Relevant Indicators for Sustainable Development? Dr. Hans Meves, Network Bureau Europe, Kiel: Applying Strategic Environmental Assessment as Means of Sustainability Evaluation – The Case of the Central Baltic Cross-Border Programme (2007-2013)

Heine WG 2: Methodological Challenges in Evaluating Sustainable Development Dr. Arthur Petersen, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven & The Hague (Chair) Dr. Candice Stevens, Former OECD Sustainable Development Advisor, Paris: A Basic Roadmap for Sustainability Assessments Dr. Wolfgang Meyer, Center for Evaluation, University of the Saarland, Saarbrücken: Evaluation Revisited? Why Sustainable Development needs More Professional Assessments Franziska Mohaupt, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin: Evaluating sustainable development with the capability approach Jürgen Kopfmüller, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft: Sustainability Assessment: Conceptual approach, methodological needs, practical implementation

Böll/Lasker-Schüler WG 3: Politics, Policy Styles and Evaluation Esther Hoffmann, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin (Chair) Dr. Klaus Jacob, Freie Universität Berlin: The Practice of Impact Assessment in Europe Stephen White, DG Environment, European Commission, Brussels: How informed should decisions be? Zoë Robaey, Ecologic Institute, Berlin: Finding Consensus in Environmental Assessment: a Canadian Case Study

From 19.00

Beethoven Dinner



3

June 16th, 2009

09.00 Working group session II

Macke/Ernst WG 4: Methods for Evaluating Sustainable Development Benjamin Görlach, Ecologic Institute, Berlin (Chair) Dr. Arthur Petersen, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven/The Hague: A Worldview Approach Towards Governance and Institutions for Sustainable Development Manfred Walser, Institute for Public Services and Tourism at the University of St. Gallen: Tools and Experiences in the International Lake of Constance-Region Dr. Markku Lehtonen, SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research, Sussex: Policy influence of indicators and evaluations: Framework for analysis of and lessons from the UK energy sector Simone Roberta Schiller/ Kerstin Huelemeyer, Institute for Rural Development Research, Frankfurt: Developing an improved methodology on evaluating impacts of rural development

Heine WG 5: Integrated Approaches in Evaluating Sustainable Development Anneke von Raggamby, Ecologic Institute, Berlin (Chair) Michael Pahle, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research: Climate Change in Stakeholder Consultations for EU Electricity Policies Dr. Katharina Helming, Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF), Müncheberg: Integrated approaches for ex-ante impact assessment tools – the example of land use Dr. Bernd Hirschl, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin: Impact Assessment as a tool to regard sustainability aspects within EU policies – theory and practise in the case of biofuels Froukje Maria Platjouw, University of Oslo: Exploring the relationship between ex-ante impact assessment methodology and the degree of consistency in environmental governance

Böll/Lasker-Schüler WG 6 a: Science Policy Interface R. Andreas Kraemer, Ecologic Institute, Berlin (Chair) Ingeborg Fiala, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria: The Austrian Pacemaker for Sustainable Development, a tool for developing policies and legislation Dr. Reinhard Steurer / Dr. André Martinuzzi, BOKU University, Vienna / Research Institute for Managing Sustainability, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration: Knowledge-based Governance for Sustainable Development: A Typology of Appraisals around the Policy Cycle Peter de Smedt, DG Research, European Commission, Brussels: Assessment tools for sustainable policy measures in Europe Dr. Serenella Sala, University of Milano Bicocca: Strengths and weaknesses of the integration between science and policy in tourism planning


Working group session III 11.30

Macke/Ernst WG 6 b: Science Policy Interface R. Andreas Kraemer, Ecologic Institute, Berlin (Chair) Nicole Dewandre / Katerina Hejdova / Wanda Gaj / Peter De Smedt, DG Research, European Commission, Brussels: Enhancing connectivity between research and policymaking in sustainable development Dr. Ingeborg Niestroy, European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils, Brussels: Impact Assessment, or the longing for 42



4

Dr. Klaus Jacob / Lucienne Damm, Freie Universität Berlin: Appraising Good Governance for Sustainable Development Timo Kaphengst / Katharina Umpfenbach, Ecologic Institute, Berlin: Can science make policy-makers think twice? – The role of research results in EU decision-making on biofuels

Heine WG 7: Integrated Approaches in Evaluating Regional Sustainable Development Anneke von Raggamby, Ecologic Institute, Berlin (Chair) Jean Hugé, Human Ecology Department and Policy Research Centre for Sustainable Development, Vrije Universiteit Brussel: Institutional barriers and opportunities facing sustainability assessment in Flanders, Belgium Dr. Jenny Atmanagara, University of Bern: The Cultural Landscape Concept as an Approach for Designing Sustainability Evaluations Keti Medarova-Bergström, Central European University, Budapest: The Role of Environmental Assessments for Environmental Policy Integration: A Case Study of the EU Structural and Cohesion Funds Programming in Bulgaria Frans Hermans, Telos - Tilburg University: Participation in Monitoring sustainable development

Böll/Lasker-Schüler WG 8: Institutionalisation of Sustainability Evaluation Dr. Frieder Rubik, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Heidelberg (Chair) Jakub Koniecki, European Commission, Secretariat General, Brussels: The European Commission's Impact Assessment system – how to ensure a good quality? Gustav Jakob Petersson, Department of Economic History Umeå University: A Welfare State Perspective on Institutionalisation of Evaluation Dr. Tom Bauler, Free University of Brussels: Sustainability Impact Assessment for policy making: institutionalization and early practice in federal Belgium Anja Bauer, BOKU University, Vienna: Strategic Environmental Assessment in Austria – Between end-of pipe reporting and integrated planning processes

13.30 Beethoven Buffet Lunch

Macke/Ernst Plenary II - Increasing the Usefulness of Sustainability Evaluation

14.30

R. Andreas Kraemer, Ecologic Institute, Berlin (Chair) Prof. Colin Kirkpatrick, The Impact Assessment Research Centre, University of Manchester Dr. David Stanners, European Environment Agency, Copenhagen Robin Miège, Head of Unit Sustainable Development and Economic Analysis, European Commission, Brussels Dr. André Martinuzzi, Research Institute for Managing Sustainability, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration

16.30 Closing remarks and farewell



In 1985 scientists established the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) as a non-profit public limited company. The central interest was and still is to open up economics to ecological questions and to develop methods, instruments and models for the greening of political frameworks and economic actions. The institute can now look back on hundreds of research and practical projects. As a result, important contributions to the development of environmentally-oriented economic research and practice have been made through the work of the IÖW. Numerous publications, lectures, conferences and co-operations at many levels have led to a dialogue between the fields of science, economics and politics. The IÖW has been dealing with issues of the future for almost 25 years, coming up with constantly new and frequently unusual answers. The institute stands for the expansion of approaches for ecological and economical assessment, economically and ecologically feasible concepts for town development, mobility and transport, the development of new methods and instruments for product policy and sustainable consumption research. In addition, the institute is working on topics such as sustainable corporate management, climate-friendly energy systems and new technologies. IÖW' staff is drawn from the fields of economics, engineering, natural and social sciences. As a result it is possible for them to work on both discipline-related as well as on interdisciplinary solutions. A scientific advisory board including over 20 well-known scientists engaged in economic and environ-mental research supervises the institute's work. Institute for Ecological Economy Research Institut für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW) Berlin – Heidelberg Potsdamer Straße 105 D - 10785 Berlin Tel.: +49-(0)30 88 45 94-0 Fax: +49-(0)30 882 54 39 E-Mail: [email protected] www.ioew.de



The Ecologic Institute is a private not-for-profit think tank for applied environmental research, policy analysis and consultancy with offices in Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, and Washington DC. Founded in 1995, the Ecologic Institute is dedicated to bringing fresh ideas to environmental policies and to promoting sustainable development. Ecologic's work programme focuses on obtaining practical results and on enhancing the importance of environmental protection and sustainable resource management in the fields of foreign and security policy, international relations and global governance structures. As an independent, non-partisan body, it undertakes applied research and analysis to increase awareness and understanding of the political, economic and technological forces driving global change. Policy evaluation and assessment belong to Ecologic's core expertise. Recently, Ecologic has been primarily involved with a number of projects related to the EU Commission's system for Impact Assessments. This includes meta projects covering assessment methodologies (e.g. Sustainability A-Test, a study on strengthening the environmental dimension in impact assessments, a study on the use of cost-effectiveness analyses in ex-post evaluations), as well as contributions to actual Impact Assessments (e.g. on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme). Ongoing projects include a European network on policy evaluation led by Ecologic together with the IOEW (EPOS), the EXIOPOL project, which aims to establish a New Environmental Accounting Framework for Policy Analysis (EXIOPOL), as well as framework contracts for the Commission, European Parliament and European Environment Assessment Agency on policy assessment. Based on these past and ongoing projects, Ecologic was able to build a strong interdisciplinary team consisting of political scientists, economists, natural scientists and engineers, who work on Impact Assessments and evaluations. One of Ecologic's key contributions in all of these projects has been combining a detailed understanding of the scientific methodologies with an understanding of the needs and demands of policy makers and the role of Impact Assessments and evaluations in the political process. Ecologic Institute Berlin – Brussels – Vienna – Washington DC Pfalzburger Strasse 43-44 10717 Berlin Germany Tel. +49 (30) 86880-0 Fax +49 (30) 86880-100 E-Mail: [email protected] www.ecologic.eu



1

About EPOS – Evaluating Policies for Sustainable De velopment

EPOS is a research project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the framework of Social-Ecological Research (SÖF). The network is concerned with the evaluation of policies, political strategies, programmes and instruments in the context of sustainable development.

Social-ecological research is a concept developed by the German Ministry of Education and Research that aims to promote an ecological transformation of the society while simultaneously improving social justice and economic conditions. It is closely linked to the concept of sustainability, exploring the links between the social and ecological pillars of sustainable development and ways to create synergies between them. Its methodology is problem and actor oriented, and its approach is inter- and transdisciplinary.

Evaluation can be a key tool to support sustainable development and to prevent policy measures in one area from causing unwanted impacts in another. The need to move from evaluation that is focused on specific areas (e.g. environmental or economic impacts) towards more integrated sustainability assessments and evaluations is broadly acknowledged in policy evaluation research and practice. In EPOS, evaluation research is embedded in the context of social-ecological research.

The EPOS project establishes a network of leading European institutions that are active in the field of policy evaluation with a focus on environment and sustainability. The network provides a platform to discuss and further develop approaches in policy evaluation, to exchange information on different evaluation methods, approaches and experience, and to consider ways to strengthen social-ecological and integrative aspects in evaluation methods. The EPOS network is jointly managed by Ecologic Institute and the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW).

The EPOS-Partners are: • Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Brussels

• Centre for Evaluation (CEval), Saarland University/Germany

• Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milan/Italy

• Impact Assessment Research Centre (IARC) of the Institute for Development Policy and Management

(IDPM), University of Manchester/UK

• Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) - Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam/ The Netherlands

• Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), London/UK

• Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP), Bilthoven/The Hague/ The Netherlands

• Research Institute for Managing Sustainability (RIMAS), Vienna University of Economics and

Business Administration, Vienna/Austria

• Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Stockholm/Sweden



2

Improving sustainable policy evaluation – the EPOS work programme

The EPOS network analyzes policy evaluation using the approach and experience of social-ecological research and thereby intends to improve evaluation practice. At the centre of discussions are evaluation methods and feedback processes between evaluation and policy development. The following topics have been chosen as focus areas for the network discussions:

• Methodological challenges of evaluations

• Evaluation and learning in the context of different administrative systems and political cultures

• Policy impact of evaluation

• Interdisciplinarity and sustainability

• Integrating stakeholders in the integration process

• Quality of evaluation

• Institutional aspects of evaluation

A series of network meetings constitute the core of the project. These meetings are centred on specific issues in policy evaluation. In addition, two public events – a summer school in 2008 targeted to young scholars and the current high-level policy conference in Brussels – will ensure the dissemination of project results and the involvement of the interested public and the scientific community. Finally, a book with the most interesting contributions from the conference and the six network meetings will be published.



1

Feedback-Questionnaire Dear Sir or Madame, the conference team from the Institute for Ecological Economy Research and Ecologic Institute wants to thank you for participating in the EPOS-conference. You will help us improving our service for future conferences with answering the following questions. Thank you very much for your assistance!

– Please hand in the filled out questionnaire at th e information desk –

How did you become aware of the conference?

Invitation-Mailing by the organizers

Forwarded Invitation-Mailing

Face-to-face contacts

Press

In the internet www.

Other:

Excellent good sufficient modest poor

++ + +/- - -- n.a.

Overall appraisal of the conference

Importance of the conference topic

Remarks:

Organisation / Catering / Location:

++ + +/- - -- n.a.

Information management prior to the conference

Registration

Conference service (Registration at the venue, signposting, conference binder, ...)

Catering

Timetable

Venue

Remarks:



2

Review plenary I

“Understanding Sustainability Evaluation and its Contribution to Policy-making” Monday afternoon:

++ + +/- - -- n.a.

Presentation Prof. Stockmann

Choice of panellists

Questions

Quality of discussion

Moderation

Timetable

Remarks:

Review Working group in Session 1:

My Working group: WG 1 WG 2 WG 3

++ + +/- - -- n.a.

Presentations

Quality of discussions

Moderation

Timetable

Remarks:


My Working group: WG 4 WG 5 WG 6a

++ + +/- - -- n.a.

Presentations


Moderation

Timetable

Remarks:



3


My Working group: WG 6b WG 7 WG 8

++ + +/- - -- n.a.

Presentations


Moderation

Timetable

Remarks:

Review plenary II: “Increasing the Usefulness of Sustainability Evaluation“ Tuesday:

++ + +/- - -- n.a.

Choice of panellists

Questions

Quality of discussion

Moderation

Timetable

Remarks:

Outlook: Quality criteria for sustainability evaluations:

Preparing this conference, both EPOS partners and external experts have raised the issue of quality in sustainability evaluations. Evaluations and impact assessments are on the rise in Europe. Several studies show, however, that both

evaluations and impact assessments, which claim to address SD effects, do not necessarily reflect sustainability considerations in a satisfactory way. Therefore, the idea of creating a set of sustainability quality criteria for evaluations and impact assessments has been put forward within the EPOS project.

Do you think that these quality criteria are necessary?

Yes No Maybe I do not know

Remarks:

Other remarks concerning organisation and content of the conference (please use the back if necessary)

sustainable development in policy assessment – methods ... · pdf filesustainable...

Documents