Support for public policy is a mission that naturally brings together targeted research organisations, both in France and abroad. INRAE is involved in initiatives aimed at federating a scientific community for public policy support.

This community includes both the scientific community and staff responsible for implementing public policy support in their establishments. At school level, communities of practice are being organised around support activities such as international expertise, or around collaboration with different types of players. At national level, INRAE’s launch of an inter-agency group for sharing experience on public policy support provides a forum for sharing and building on common issues. These forums help to professionalise public policy support activities and build a common culture. This includes both the scientific community and the staff responsible for implementing public policy support in their establishments.

A national group for sharing experience between public scientific organisations

In 2021, an experience-sharing group on public policy support was launched at the initiative of INRAE’s public policy support department. It brings together practitioners from 14 organisations and universities who share common objectives: to bring a public policy support mission to life in their establishments and to facilitate the interface between science and public policy in a shared context of transitions and global changes. The group is a forum for sharing and building on shared issues and themes of common interest, such as training, development, innovation and opening up to Europe and the rest of the world.

It facilitates the development of shared tools for training scientists, measuring the impact and maturity of research work in terms of support for public policy, bringing research to European level and linking national and regional levels.

The inter-agency group is a trade group that remains open to any new public scientific and technical body wishing to join.

Collaboration between INRAE and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre

The Directorate-General for Expertise and Support for Public Policies and the Joint Research Centre are jointly conducting research into ecosystems for the development and implementation of public policies in the Member States of the European Union. INRAE contributed, together with the Member States and an inter-directorate-general Commission think tank (JRC- DG RTD- DG REFORM), to the publication of a European Commission working document entitled ” Supporting and connecting policymaking in the Member States with scientific research “. INRAE also contributed to the development of the French position when the document was presented to the Competitiveness Council at the end of 2022. These various interventions have enabled INRAE to establish a dialogue with the national level on these “science for policy” issues. Finally, these sustained collaborations since 2020 have enabled the Director General for Public Policy Support to participate as a guest speaker at the ” Science for Policy in Europe Conference ” on 10 and 11 October 2023, and to share INRAE’s expertise on public policy support issues.

These various interactions, in addition to the training issues in support of public policies led by the JRC and in which INRAE participates, will strengthen relations with the JRC and extend the scope of the collaborations provided for in the framework agreement between INRAE and the JRC.

The European Practice Sharing Group

The research institutes INRAE, ILVO, CREA and LUKE, as well as the universities of Aarhus and WUR, have a long history of supporting public policy. Together, they have launched the ‘ Ghent Group ‘, an informal network whose aim is to provide a space for scientists from major European research institutes to share their experiences of public policy support at the level of individual scientists as well as institutional strategies. The group organises meetings, courses and workshops. The group is open to all.

Training to strengthen public policy support practices

In 2022, the Ghent Group co-organised the first advanced course entitled ” Science-Based Advice in the fields of agriculture and environment “. Organised over two days, the aim of the course was to discuss the contours of public policy support and to share best practice in relation to these activities. It will be held again in 2023 and 2024.

Scientists with advanced experience in public policy support shared and discovered tools to assess their practices, gain access to a large community of practices, exchange resources and improve their understanding of the issues related to these activities.

The course combines theoretical presentations led by speakers from the organising institutes and the Joint Research Centre, reflective sessions and practical case studies.