New methodological perspectives, from economics and other disciplines, and research into practice are suggesting more effective approaches to regulation that could also avoid escalatory pressures towards red tape.
CPD Courses
CECAN Seminar: Evaluating Sustainability – Is It Possible? A Case for Focusing on Evaluating Decision-Making for Sustainable Development
The complexity of sustainability is immense, yet many policies and plans now have sustainability as an aim. While it is difficult to empirically evaluate sustainability outcomes, it is possible to evaluate the process of decision-making to identify if decision-making is becoming more informed and working towards balancing social, economic and environmental priorities.
Dynamic Pattern Synthesis Summer School
September saw a successful collaboration between CECAN and Brighton University, who hosted a Dynamic Pattern Synthesis (DPS) summer school.
CECAN Seminar: We Ask Too Much And Too Little of Program Evaluators
We’d like to extend our thanks to Professor Saville Kushner who gave an excellent talk on behalf of CECAN at the Food Standards Agency on 9th October.
DEFRA RDPE / Future Farming
Contact: Frances Rowe and Adam Hejnowicz DEFRA and the Rural Development Programme for England: Evaluating complex policy at a time of dynamic change. From 2016 to 2018 DEFRA worked with the CECAN case study team, led by Newcastle and York universities, to help inform...
Environment Agency – Enforcement on Waste Crime
Contact: Amy Proctor, Newcastle University CECAN Case Study: Enforcement on Waste Crime - Environment Agency Between 2016 and 2018, the CECAN case study team, led by Newcastle University, worked with the Environment Agency to develop a new approach to their evaluation...
BEIS – Contracts for Difference
Contact: Pete Barbrook Johnson CECAN Contracts for Difference Case Study – BEIS CECAN team members provided expert input in the evaluation work conducted by BEIS and contractors on the Contracts for Difference policy. Completed in 2018, CECAN supported as a ‘critical...
DEFRA – Bovine TB
Contact: Amy Proctor, Newcastle University CECAN Bovine TB Case Study – DEFRA Defra are currently developing an evaluation framework to guide their evaluation of the overall Bovine TB Strategy. CECAN have been operating as a ‘critical friend’ in this process, with...
CECAN Seminar: Understanding Health Policy in the Third Era Through a Complex Systems Lens
We’d like to extend our thanks to Professor David Hunter who gave an excellent talk at BEIS on 12th September.
A Whole New World – What Next?
It’s been a month since we launched ‘A Whole New World: Funding and Commissioning in Complexity’ and the response has been incredible. Over 120 people came to the two launch events, and more than 1000 people read the report online in the first week. We’ve also started to have some excellent conversations about how to take this work forward.
Complexity Settings to the Rescue: A New Lease of Life for Evidence-Based Policy?
It would be naive and, potentially, ill-advised to have evaluation solely drive policy direction. Good, open, evidence-backed policy, however, does need to be informed by evaluation results and insights. My CECAN Fellowship provided me with a rare opportunity to investigate how evaluation is applied in real life within a government department – in this case Defra – and how it can be used to plan for future policymaking.
CECAN Case Study with DEFRA: Evaluation of Bovine TB Strategy
Defra are currently developing an evaluation framework to guide their evaluation of the overall Bovine TB Strategy.
CECAN Case Study with BEIS: Contracts For Difference
CECAN team members have been providing expert input in the current evaluation work being conducted by BEIS and contractors on the Contracts for Difference policy.
CECAN Case Study with the Environment Agency: Enforcement on Waste Crime
CECAN team members have been providing expert advice and guidance to members of the Environment Agency’s Evidence, Assessment and Evaluation team
CECAN Case Study with DEFRA: Rural Development Programme for England
On 19th July CECAN held the first of two joint and linked workshops with DEFRA.
CECAN PhD Researcher Attends CIED Summer School
CECAN PhD Researcher, Anna Kaxira, from the Policy Studies Institute at the University of Westminster, recently attend the CIED Summer School.
CECAN Partner Professor Liz Varga Attends M2D 2017 Annual Conference
CECAN partner Professor Liz Varga of Cranfield University, recently attended the M2D 2017 Annual Conference on Decision Making Under Uncertainty.
Joanna Boehnert Joins as a CECAN Fellow
We are pleased to introduce a new member of the CECAN team. Joanna Boehnert joins us as a CECAN Fellow.
Models as ‘Interested Amateurs’
Pete Barbrook-Johnson, Research Fellow at the Policy Studies Institute at the University of Westminster & Knowledge Integrator Research Fellow at the Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity Across the Nexus (CECAN) at the University of Surrey.
CECAN Seminar: The Use of Dependency Modelling to Support Evaluation in Complex Environments
CECAN hosted a seminar at BEIS on 11th July, with Helen Wilkinson of Risk Solutions and Harry Walton.
CECAN Seminar: Learning Lessons from Practical Policy Evaluation: Reflecting on a Meta-Evaluation of UK/EU Policy and Practice Evaluations Across the Nexus
CECAN recently held a seminar with Clare Twigger-Ross and Owen White from Collingwood Environmental Planning.
Taking The Temperature of Trust
It is over two years since Ofwat set increasing trust in water as its key objective for its 2015 five year business plan.To establish what has happened since, I interviewed 19 senior and influential figures across all parts of the water sector. I am seeking wider perspectives via a survey (click HERE to participate) and hope this article will stimulate you to take part.
CECAN Seminar: The Use of Dependency Modelling to Support Evaluation in Complex Environments
The ‘theory of change’ evaluation strategy (described in the Magenta book) was developed to help tackle evaluation of complex multi-level, multi-intervention initiatives.
CECAN Short Course: COMPLEX-IT and the SACS Toolkit: A Case-Based Computational Modeling Platform for Data Mining Complex Issues in Policy and Evaluation
The complex socio-technical arenas (nexus issues) that government seeks to improve (e.g. health, food, water, safety, infrastructure) are not driven by a single factor or consequence.
CECAN Attend UK Evaluation Society Conference
CECAN exhibited at the UKES Conference on 10th-11th May with the primary goal of making strong connections in the evaluation community.
CECAN Seminar: Theory of Change
CECAN hosted a seminar on Theory of Change and how best to design one, at St Martin-in-the-Fields on 16th May.
CECAN Seminar: Supporting Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty
CECAN would like to extend thanks to Jan Kwakkel who took time out of his busy schedule to deliver a seminar to a large group of civil servants working in nexus policy areas.
CECAN Webinar: The “Context+Mechanism” Association: Mastering a Key Heuristic in Realist Evaluation for Innovating Complex Programmes and Policy
This webinar is the second part of a series on Realist Methodology for the Centre for Evaluation of Complexity across the Nexus.
CECAN Seminar: Learning Lessons from Practical Policy Evaluation – Reflecting on a Meta-Evaluation of UK/EU Policy and Practice Evaluations Across the Nexus
Numerous evaluations of natural environment policy and practice are commissioned by the UK and EU government in order to inform, develop and improve.
CECAN Webinar: Choosing Appropriate Evaluation Methods – A Tool for Assessment and Selection
The range of methods available to produce useful, credible and rigorous evidence in evaluation is growing but selecting the right method or combination of methods can be difficult.