WHAT WE DO
The EU Policy Lab is a collaborative and experimental space for innovative policy-making.
It is both a physical space and a way of working that combines
FORESIGHT
BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS
DESIGN THINKING
to explore, connect and find solutions for better policies.
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ANNE-KATRIN BOCK
EMANUELE CIRIOLO
JOANA SOUSA LOURENCO
RENÉ VAN BAVEL
SUSANA NASCIMENTO
ALEXANDRE PÓLVORA
ALESSANDRO RANCATI
EMANUELE CUCCILLATO
LAURENT BONTOUX
PAULETTE MATKOVIC RAMIREZ
TINE VAN CRIEKINGE
MACIEJ KRZYSZTOFOWICZ
ALICE SZCZEPANIKOVA
FABIANA SCAPOLO
MONIKA ANTAL
SARA ALMEIDA
XAVIER TROUSSARD
ECKHARD STOERMER
CHRISTIAN SVANFELDT
IOANA PROFIR
JOHANNA TRIEB
SARA GIOVANNINI
FRANçOIS DESSART
ELISABETA FLORESCU
By accessing diverse areas of knowledge, we strive to co-create, test and prototype ideas to address complex social problems and to enable collective change. The Lab invites policy-makers to explore scenarios, connect issues and find solutions for better policies, acting as a facilitator and providing a safe-space for open interactions. It delivers insights and works side by side with the services and agencies of the European Institutions, international bodies, public organisations, universities and research centres. The Lab’s main fields of practice are foresight, behavioural insights and design-thinking. The lab setting facilitates collaboration between policy-makers and society.
Foresight explores long-term futures and creates shared visions for policy-making.
Behavioural Insights result from multidisciplinary research in fields such as economics, psychology and neuroscience, to understand how humans behave and make decisions in everyday life.
Design thinking deploys people- and solution-centred processes to help stakeholders to innovate.
PROJECTS
We serve all Commission's Directorates and focus on the creation of bridges and synergies. A transparent, proactive and participatory approach guarantees a positive contribution by all the participating parties.
- All
- Completed
- Ongoing
Service design for better stakeholder consultation 
The future of migration in Europe 
#Blockchain4EU: Blockchain for Industrial Transformations 
Lab Connections 
Systematic behavioural support for European Commission services 
Behavioural insights applied to policy in Europe 
Foresight knowledge management tool 
Knowledge sharing for better implementation of EU Regional Policy 
Sustainable food system 
A vision for the EU “Sharing Economy” 
Future of industries
BLOG
A collection of news, notes, reflection on our workshops or events we attended.
25 Sep 2017EU Policy Lab supporting collaborative policy dialogue in Rabat
Over the past months, we supported the European Commission Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) in the methodological development of a policy dialogue workshop on youth education and employment policies, which took place in Rabat on 18th, 19th and 20th September. DG NEAR Technical Assistance Information Exchange Instrument (TAIEX) regularly organises workshops in which EU Member State experts are invited to present specific areas of EU legislation to a group of neighbourhood
18 Sep 2017Creative Hubs Youth Employment Pilot
Creative Hubs Youth Employment Pilot Information Webinar 3rd of October at 11AM Brussels time (10AM London time) Link The Directorate General for Education and Culture would like to explore together with creative hubs the role the hubs can play in supporting young people to find meaningful and remunerated jobs in a labour market shaped by the gig-based economy. In support to this pilot, the EU Policy Lab has teamed up with Cat Drew, project director
21 Jul 2017Scenario Exploration for the Circular Ocean project
On Sunday July 16 and Monday July 17, 2017, the EU Policy Lab joined the partners of the Circular Ocean project in Reykjavic to prepare and run a scenario exploration session on the issue of reusing and recycling waste fishing nets and ropes. The Circular Ocean project An estimated 640,000 tonnes of fishing nets are left in the oceans around the globe every year. It might seem like a small fraction of the 8-12 million
19 Jul 2017Citizen engagement, a design challenge?
On the 1st of July I witnessed a conversation that re-enacted and summarized very well many contemporary online and offline debates and rants on participatory democracy and citizen engagement. It happened in the context of a very well organised workshop designed and run by Saya Sauliere with Rebeca Díez Escudero, hosted by the EU Policy Lab at MediaLab Prado in Madrid. The workshop was one of the three activities (report here) that Saya and Rebeca
13 Jul 2017First Workshop of #Blockchain4EU: Blockchain for Industrial Transformations
On July 4th we organised the first workshop related to the project #Blockchain4EU: Blockchain for Industrial Transformations in Brussels. This was the first of a series of participatory and stakeholder engagement activities taking place until February 2018. #Blockchain4EU This project is a forward looking sociotechnical exploration of existing, emerging and potential applications based on Blockchain and other Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) for industrial / non-fintech sectors. It is led by the EU Policy Lab of
28 Jun 2017Mobility is a serious game!
On the 22nd of June we attended the workshop "Mobility is a serious game", a one day event organised by Colruyt Group which brought about 100 people together to discuss the future of mobility. On this occasion, the organisers presented "Mobility is a serious game", an adaptation of our Scenario Exploration System tool. Following early interest in the Scenario Exploration System (SES) by the Colruyt Group, Prof. Cathy Macharis, head of the MOBI research group at
20 Jun 2017Towards the creation of a multi-level third space for systemic urban research and innovation
On 4th and 5th April we co-organised a lab session with the Innovating Cities team of the Directorate General for Research & Innovation to test the idea of a third space for systemic urban research and innovation. Together with European Commission Urban Policy Officers, city-makers and innovators, city organisations, and other stakeholders from multiple cities across Europe we tried to understand what should be the key features of a multi-level third space in which EU policy officers and all relevant stakeholders could
19 Jun 2017Exploring the stakeholder consultation process
In May 2015 the Commission published "Better regulation for better results - An EU agenda", a communication on improving "both what the European Union (EU) does, and how it does it". An important part of the document focused on the importance of consulting more and better with all stakeholders, to increase transparency and to allow them to contribute significantly to the process. As a result, stakeholder consultations are now one of the most pressing priorities
7 Jun 2017Launch of the #Blockchain4EU project
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) and Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs (DG GROW) have launched the project #Blockchain4EU: Blockchain for Industrial Transformations, running until February 2018. The project is a forward looking exploration of existing, emerging and potential applications based on Blockchain and other Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) for non-financial / industry sectors. It aims to identify, discuss and communicate possible uses and impacts of Blockchain and other DLT objects,
18 May 2017Scenario Exploration System China edition 1.0
On May 16, 2017, the Scenario Exploration System (SES) was at the core of the "EU-China Collaboration and Foresight Workshop: the future of innovation in China and what it means for EU-China collaboration". This workshop was organised by the DRAGON-Star Plus project. The main objectives of the project are to support the European and Chinese research communities to establish collaborations under Horizon 2020 (the European Commission programme for research & innovation) and beyond and to
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