past event

CECAN Conference: Sustainability in Turbulent Times

CECAN Conference: Sustainability in Turbulent Times

These are turbulent times in which to advance sustainable development. Environmental and social challenges, encapsulated in the United Nation’s Global Goals, are as pressing as ever, but the political, regulatory and funding landscape is changing rapidly, creating new uncertainties and opportunities.

CECAN Short Course: Getting to Grips with Wicked Issues Using Exploratory Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)

CECAN Short Course: Getting to Grips with Wicked Issues Using Exploratory Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)

At the end of this course you should be able to: Understand the value of systematic comparison as a way of exploring multiple and complex causation, be able to start using binary QCA as a mode of exploration of appropriate information / data and know the character of the various forms of QCA and be able to assess their value to you in confronting problems in causation and evaluation.

Agriculture Fit For A Complex World

Agriculture Fit For A Complex World

To say that we live in a complex world is, in a very general sense, rather banal and uninteresting being neither particularly illuminating nor especially profound. But, scratch beneath the surface, and an acknowledgement of that complexity can be revelatory.

Why We Need Network Analysis to Understand the Future of Economics

Why We Need Network Analysis to Understand the Future of Economics

Network analysis is the method of the future. That is not only – certainly not primarily – because we are ever more connected in some superficial social-media driven internet sort of way. All of that may be fascinating (and certainly can be analysed using network analysis), but it is not fundamental to our existence as humans – we existed before Facebook, we will exist after it is gone

Why Carry Out Economic Evaluation?

Why Carry Out Economic Evaluation?

I have only recently joined the small economic research consultancy Simetrica. Before this I spent 16 years in the Government Economic Service, starting as an economic advisor in DTI in 2000 (now known as BEIS). I first worked on employment policy and one of my main tasks was to produce Impact Assessments for new employment regulation using the tools of Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA).

Access to Data is Crucial

Access to Data is Crucial

CECAN is exploring how evaluation of policy can better inform the impact those policies have and assess the extent to which these have been successful. In order to do this, access to data is crucial, yet can at times be problematic. CECAN’s Knowledge Integrator, Candice Howarth met Emma Uprichard and Robert MacKay from the Centre and based at the University of Warwick and asked them over a series of emails to explain what the implications of some of these challenges are.

Aligning Policy and Evidence for the Age of Complexity

Aligning Policy and Evidence for the Age of Complexity

As the world changes in complex and unpredictable ways, Government is changing too.  As it does so, the need grows for policy-making and the evidence that informs it to be alive and responsive to the increasing pervasiveness of complexity.  In public service systems the increase in complexity often means that  no single institution is ever ‘in charge’ or has direct control over how changes unfold. 

Complexity High on the Agenda at the EES 2016 Biannual Conference

Complexity High on the Agenda at the EES 2016 Biannual Conference

Maastricht was the location of this year’s European Evaluation Society (EES) conference over a sunny week in late September. At the end of first day, we were treated to a civic reception in the building in which the Maastricht treaty was signed in 1992, bringing up mixed emotions for some of us.

Likelihoods

Likelihoods

The scope of the CECAN project runs wide as well as deep; complexity in the energy, water, environment and food domain would most immediately be thought to arise from the physical systems at the nexus core. Yes, complexity in weather systems, biological populations spring quickly and easily to mind as do the ‘user level’ human interactions with these systems and other local and global physical systems.

Is Policy Evaluation Fit For Purpose?

Is Policy Evaluation Fit For Purpose?

By Roger Highfield, Director of External Affairs of the Science Museum, member of the Royal Society’s Science Policy Advisory Group. To tackle climate change, ecosystem destruction and the many daunting issues facing humanity we need not only to draw on science and engineering but also develop policies that can change the behaviour of 7.5 billion people.

Agent Based Modelling Course a Great Success

Agent Based Modelling Course a Great Success

Professor Nigel Gilbert, Dr Lynne Hamill and Nicolas Payette delivered an intensive one day workshop in Agent Based Modelling, to a group of economists from UK Government on 3rd August.

CECAN Seminar: Revaluation – Measuring Paradigm Shift

CECAN Seminar: Revaluation – Measuring Paradigm Shift

23rd June 2016 will go down in history as a very difficult day in Westminster – Brexit Day. Nonetheless, Andrew Darnton and Andrew Harrison boldly produced an engaging and thought provoking complexity seminar in Whitehall.

Reflections on Language and Complexity

Reflections on Language and Complexity

When I turned up at the CECAN Evaluation and Complexity workshop this week it was my first day back at work after a holiday in Crete, an experience that I thought might have put me in the right frame of mind.   Being the non-scientist in a roomful of scientists often seems like being in a foreign country where I only speak a few words of the language.

In case you missed this week's webinar: 'Innovation as a complex system: delivering a systems framework to measure impact within deep tech', with Brian MacAulay and Teresa Miquel from Digital Catapult, a recording is now available on the CECAN website: cecan.ac.uk/videos/

[image or embed] — CECAN (@cecan.bsky.social) October 10, 2024 at 11:01 AM

*Training* Systems Mapping for Environmental Domains. 12 Nov 2024, 09.00 – 17.00, University of Surrey, Guildford. This one day workshop is hosted by @_ACCESSnetwork, with facilitators from @CecanLimited. For details and to book, see: accessnetwork.uk/systems-mapp...

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— CECAN (@cecan.bsky.social) October 3, 2024 at 3:04 PM