S13_ How is emerging artificial intelligence intersecting with evaluation and democracy? Towards new practice and adoption
S15_ Rebalancing Power: Feminist and Decolonial Pathways to Democratic Evaluation
S13_ How is emerging artificial intelligence intersecting with evaluation and democracy? Towards new practice and adoption
S15_ Rebalancing Power: Feminist and Decolonial Pathways to Democratic Evaluation
S14_ Learning, Equity, and Innovation in EU Policy Evaluation: Methods and Practice for Vibrant Democracies [joint TWG 7 EU Policies and EEPF Proposal]
Bridget Dillon, Joanna Hofman, José Carbajo, Oto Potluka
Rationale and Objectives
EU policies rely on cross-border co-ordination between EU, national and local institutions, raising important issues not only responding to challenges which cut across these levels but also doing so in ways which nurture democratic accountability. Achieving the consensus needed for such consensus has become more difficult. Such consensus is particularly important for Europe to tackle major societal challenges such as social cohesion, labour market disruption, decarbonisation, industrial competitiveness, population, health, and defence. Evaluators, commissioners, and decision-makers, who are part of navigating these challenges, often operate within different organisations, and to different timelines. We will explore how to bring these together to strengthen the role of evaluation evidence in decision-making.
Against this background, this strand addresses the Systemic Learning theme by exploring how evaluative evidence is generated, transferred, interpreted, and used across EU policy making. It positions evaluation as a central learning mechanism that can enhance democratic responsiveness while maintaining methodological rigour. The strand will feature sessions involving European Institutions and draw on relevant initiatives, including insights and challenges from the Evidence and Evaluation Policy Forum (EEPF), launched in 2025 as a European Evaluation Society pilot programme to strengthen links between evidence and policy communities to effect greater policy impact.
For contributors under Call B, this strand offers a platform to situate empirical and methodological work within the broader effort to strengthen learning and democratic value across EU policy systems.
Against this background, this strand addresses the Systemic Learning theme by exploring how evaluative evidence is generated, transferred, interpreted, and used across EU policy making. It positions evaluation as a central learning mechanism that can enhance democratic responsiveness while maintaining methodological rigour. The strand will feature sessions involving European Institutions and draw on relevant initiatives, including insights and challenges from the Evidence and Evaluation Policy Forum (EEPF), launched in 2025 as a European Evaluation Society pilot programme to strengthen links between evidence and policy communities to effect greater policy impact.
For contributors under Call B, this strand offers a platform to situate empirical and methodological work within the broader effort to strengthen learning and democratic value across EU policy systems.
Strand Overview
Session 1: Learning across levels: Evaluation of EU Funds as a bridge between the EU and Member States
Lead facilitators: DG REGIO & DG EMPL
Focus: Strategic learning between EU and Member State levels: How evaluation fosters mutual learning in shared governance systems
Session 2: TBE and CIE in EU Cohesion Policy: What do we learn, and how?
Lead facilitator: Oto Potluka (TWG7)
Focus: Use of TBE and CIE designs in the main EU investment policy and Better Regulation frame; Translating findings into learning for policymakers
Session 3: Building Evaluation Capacity across Borders: Learning from the European Neighbourhood (Policy)
Lead facilitator: European Training Foundation (ETF)
Format: Panel discussion moderated by the ETF
Focus: Approaches to strengthening evaluation and learning capacity in neighbouring countries; developing cross-country learning ecosystems and institutional evaluation systems; and implications for EU external cooperation and neighbourhood policies.
Session 4: Helping European Commission personnel measure the health impacts of EU policy
Lead facilitators: Ipsos, DG SANTE, JRC
Focus: Policies across a wide range of areas can significantly influence people’s health by shaping the factors that determine health outcomes. In an era of constrained public resources, simplification efforts and a stronger focus on competitiveness, it is essential that health receives the attention it deserves. Healthier populations are more productive, more resilient, place less pressure on public finances and health systems, and underpin sustainable and long-term growth. This requires, among other things, building capacity among policymakers to identify, analyse and assess health impacts proportionately and practically.
This session will cover the following:
• The need from a Better Regulation perspective to better support Commission policy teams who are responsible for impact assessments and evaluations with appraising health impacts.
• Decisions DG SANTE and Ipsos reached together on the development of a methodological decision-support tool (AI chatbot) and the collaborative creation of a series of methodological guidance.
• Key considerations when developing the AI chatbot for EU policymakers, including an example of the conversation flow the chatbot takes Commission personnel through.
• Discussion on how this tool could be used across the Commission and might be replicable across other areas and administrations.
• Q&A
Session 5: Innovative practices in boosting European health system productivity – evidence to policy
Lead facilitator: Tom Ling, RAND Europe
Focus: Innovation will be key to responding to the productivity challenge facing European Health systems. There has been considerable work on how productivity might be so strengthened but there is yet to emerge agreement on what good policy and practices might include. We will explore what a health innovation ecosystem should include and how evaluation can contribute to developing this and how innovation can boost health system productivity.
Session 6: Tackling Transport decarbonisation – role of evidence and evaluation in European policy-making in passenger and freight transport
Lead facilitators: Andrew Leicester/Pia Cache, Frontier-Economics
Focus: The transport sector is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union. It has proved difficult to reduce emissions from transport, despite many policies aimed at doing so. Modal and technological shifts will need further support at a time when political consensus on action is more difficult. The need for high quality useful, actionable evidence for policy is acute. The session will:
• reflect on what is currently known from EU-wide evaluation evidence about the impact of interventions to promote modal shift in both passenger and freight transport
• spotlight ongoing evaluation work in area of transport decarbonisation, highlighting innovations in data and methods to understand impact
• directly engage those involved in transport policy in translating evaluation evidence within European Governments on what works to turn evaluation evidence into actionable insight
Lead facilitators: DG REGIO & DG EMPL
Focus: Strategic learning between EU and Member State levels: How evaluation fosters mutual learning in shared governance systems
Session 2: TBE and CIE in EU Cohesion Policy: What do we learn, and how?
Lead facilitator: Oto Potluka (TWG7)
Focus: Use of TBE and CIE designs in the main EU investment policy and Better Regulation frame; Translating findings into learning for policymakers
Session 3: Building Evaluation Capacity across Borders: Learning from the European Neighbourhood (Policy)
Lead facilitator: European Training Foundation (ETF)
Format: Panel discussion moderated by the ETF
Focus: Approaches to strengthening evaluation and learning capacity in neighbouring countries; developing cross-country learning ecosystems and institutional evaluation systems; and implications for EU external cooperation and neighbourhood policies.
Session 4: Helping European Commission personnel measure the health impacts of EU policy
Lead facilitators: Ipsos, DG SANTE, JRC
Focus: Policies across a wide range of areas can significantly influence people’s health by shaping the factors that determine health outcomes. In an era of constrained public resources, simplification efforts and a stronger focus on competitiveness, it is essential that health receives the attention it deserves. Healthier populations are more productive, more resilient, place less pressure on public finances and health systems, and underpin sustainable and long-term growth. This requires, among other things, building capacity among policymakers to identify, analyse and assess health impacts proportionately and practically.
This session will cover the following:
• The need from a Better Regulation perspective to better support Commission policy teams who are responsible for impact assessments and evaluations with appraising health impacts.
• Decisions DG SANTE and Ipsos reached together on the development of a methodological decision-support tool (AI chatbot) and the collaborative creation of a series of methodological guidance.
• Key considerations when developing the AI chatbot for EU policymakers, including an example of the conversation flow the chatbot takes Commission personnel through.
• Discussion on how this tool could be used across the Commission and might be replicable across other areas and administrations.
• Q&A
Session 5: Innovative practices in boosting European health system productivity – evidence to policy
Lead facilitator: Tom Ling, RAND Europe
Focus: Innovation will be key to responding to the productivity challenge facing European Health systems. There has been considerable work on how productivity might be so strengthened but there is yet to emerge agreement on what good policy and practices might include. We will explore what a health innovation ecosystem should include and how evaluation can contribute to developing this and how innovation can boost health system productivity.
Session 6: Tackling Transport decarbonisation – role of evidence and evaluation in European policy-making in passenger and freight transport
Lead facilitators: Andrew Leicester/Pia Cache, Frontier-Economics
Focus: The transport sector is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union. It has proved difficult to reduce emissions from transport, despite many policies aimed at doing so. Modal and technological shifts will need further support at a time when political consensus on action is more difficult. The need for high quality useful, actionable evidence for policy is acute. The session will:
• reflect on what is currently known from EU-wide evaluation evidence about the impact of interventions to promote modal shift in both passenger and freight transport
• spotlight ongoing evaluation work in area of transport decarbonisation, highlighting innovations in data and methods to understand impact
• directly engage those involved in transport policy in translating evaluation evidence within European Governments on what works to turn evaluation evidence into actionable insight
Strand Coordinators’ Information
Joanna Hofman (Director of Research and Evaluation at Ipsos UK, co-leader of the EES TWG7 on EU Policies) has over 20 years’ experience leading large-scale evaluations, impact assessments and studies for European institutions. Her work focuses on employment, skills, inclusion, equality and labour market transitions, using mixed-methods and theory-based approaches across complex, multi-country contexts. Joanna has extensive experience both delivering and commissioning EU-funded evaluations, including ESF-financed programmes, and has supported regional, national and EU institutions in strengthening evaluation capacity, learning and evidence use. Her work bridges rigorous evaluation design with policy learning, supporting more adaptive, inclusive and effective EU policymaking.
Oto Potluka is a Senior Researcher at the University of Basel and co-leader of the EES TWG7 on EU Policies. He received his PhD in social sciences from Charles University in Prague. He has been involved in numerous research and training projects in economic development and evaluation, with a particular focus on impact evaluations of European cohesion policy and regional development programmes, including the role of civil society. He is an active member of several international professional associations, including the Regional Studies Association, the EES (former Board member), the Swiss Evaluation Society, and the Czech Evaluation Society (former Board member).
Bridget Dillon is the Director of DDA consultancy, and co-leader of the European Evaluation Society Evaluation and Evidence Policy Forum. She has over 30 years’ experience as adviser, trainer, evaluator and leader in a range of contexts across continents, with International NGOs, multi and bi-lateral organisations. Roles include: National expert in Evaluation, European Commission (DEVCO); Head of Evaluation Profession in UK Department of International Development; former President of the UK Evaluation Society; former co-opted Board Member of the European Evaluation Society; Friend of the International Evaluation Academy; co-facilitator SHIPDET training programme.
Jose Carbajo is an international development economist with more than 30 years of experience across academia, multilateral development banks, European institutions, and the private sector. He has held senior leadership roles at the World Bank Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), most recently as Director in the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group, where he led evaluations of private sector development, infrastructure, and sustainable finance. His expertise spans project appraisal, impact assessment, blended finance, private capital mobilisation, and public-private partnerships. He is currently an independent consultant and adviser based in London, and Chair of the Private Sector Evaluation Thematic Working Group of the European Evaluation Society.
Oto Potluka is a Senior Researcher at the University of Basel and co-leader of the EES TWG7 on EU Policies. He received his PhD in social sciences from Charles University in Prague. He has been involved in numerous research and training projects in economic development and evaluation, with a particular focus on impact evaluations of European cohesion policy and regional development programmes, including the role of civil society. He is an active member of several international professional associations, including the Regional Studies Association, the EES (former Board member), the Swiss Evaluation Society, and the Czech Evaluation Society (former Board member).
Bridget Dillon is the Director of DDA consultancy, and co-leader of the European Evaluation Society Evaluation and Evidence Policy Forum. She has over 30 years’ experience as adviser, trainer, evaluator and leader in a range of contexts across continents, with International NGOs, multi and bi-lateral organisations. Roles include: National expert in Evaluation, European Commission (DEVCO); Head of Evaluation Profession in UK Department of International Development; former President of the UK Evaluation Society; former co-opted Board Member of the European Evaluation Society; Friend of the International Evaluation Academy; co-facilitator SHIPDET training programme.
Jose Carbajo is an international development economist with more than 30 years of experience across academia, multilateral development banks, European institutions, and the private sector. He has held senior leadership roles at the World Bank Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), most recently as Director in the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group, where he led evaluations of private sector development, infrastructure, and sustainable finance. His expertise spans project appraisal, impact assessment, blended finance, private capital mobilisation, and public-private partnerships. He is currently an independent consultant and adviser based in London, and Chair of the Private Sector Evaluation Thematic Working Group of the European Evaluation Society.