Workpackage 2: State of the Art, Country and Regional Case Studies
Workpackage leader: Pierpaolo Campostrini, IT
Workpackage co-leader:
WP2 aims at compiling information regarding the state of the art for RD4SD in Europe, including some selected countries, two regions and the EU in order to create a broad knowledge base that can be shared by all participants and that will enrich the dialogue of WP3 and WP4.
Challenges
RD4SD is organised in different ways in different countries. In some countries no research ministry exists, in others, research funding originates in the Ministry for Education and not in the Ministry responsible for Sustainable Development.
Other challenges in the dialogue between representatives from European research funding organisations are to be expected in relation to funding multi, -inter- and trans-disciplinary research, marginalisation of Sustainable Development in policy departments, and a traditional approach to science funding that makes RD4SD less likely to be funded.
Metadata studies
In order to get a better understanding of how sustainable development research is organised, identify the barriers, and how in some cases they have been overcome, several meta-studies will be conducted. These case studies will result in a report providing an overview of RD4SD in the specific case (i.e. what efforts are there, how are RD4SD programmes being funded, designed and managed), the barriers identified, and current practices to deal with the barriers.
National studies will be carried out in countries with relatively large experiences such as France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Two regional studies covering the South of Europe and Eastern Europe will also be included. These regional studies are planned and designed to start from the national level.
Furthermore, as the EU is an important player in funding and stimulating RD4SD we will also devote one study to practices within the EU. This body of information will help to enrich discussions in WP3 and WP4.
Methodology
The analysis of the RD4SD systems (i.e. organisations, programmes and policies) will describe the most significant characteristics and how they are responsive to sustainability requirements. The methodology for carrying out the analysis will be based on the approach and insights developed by Jäger (Sustainability Science in Europe, Sept 2009).
However, a particular framework for all the case studies of WP2 will be developed from this in the first phase of the project. A two-day meeting among the Core working group is allocated for this task during the first few months of the project. The kick-off meeting will also be used as an opportunity to decide upon aspects that need to be investigated in the case studies.
Research questions
Four research questions will be central for the analyses:
- Which framework conditions are suitable for funding RD4SD?
- Which institutional frameworks are needed for harnessing RD4SD?
- What present and future support activities have to be conducted for teaching, capacity building and proper dissemination in the fields of RD4SD?
- What concrete challenges are there for programme design and programme evaluation, and how can these be overcome?
Tasks
T2.1 Developing a coherent procedure for the six national and the three regional studies to achieve comparable results. Integrating the questions from the kick-off meeting.
T2.2 Analysis of the science policy systems for RD4SD and their implementation in the six selected countries and the three regional areas: state of the art of programme development and funding mechanisms, challenges, and possible solutions. The basis for these studies comprises published information and data, enriched and tested via expert interviews.
T2.3 Carrying out ad hoc studies on specific questions arising from the dialogue process; especially the Pathways and Road Map workshops e.g. on science policy examples of other countries outside the EU.