Publications

The use of behavioural insights (BI) in public policy has grown over the last decade, with the largest increase of new behavioural teams emerging in the last five years. More and more governments are turning to behavioural science – a multidisciplinary approach to policy making encompassing lessons from psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, anthropology, economics and more. There are a wide variety of frameworks and resources currently available, such as the OECD BASIC framework, designed with the purpose of helping BI practitioners and government officials infusing behavioural science throughout the policy cycle.

A cura di Gabriele Mazzantini e Laura Tafani

The objective of the foresight process was to look at Open Strategic Autonomy in a systematic and systemic way, encompassing different dimensions and look at them in a holistic manner. This report is part of the 2021 European Commission Strategic Foresight Agenda. Desk research, including literature review and policy analysis, synthetises existing knowledge on the current state and future possibilities in 2040 and beyond. The report presents an overview of Europe’s existing capacities, dependencies and vulnerabilities. It also describes trends and emerging issues, looking forward at how they could evolve over time, and looking at the opportunities and risks they entail. The report highlights ways the EU can start to seize the benefits from positive developments and ways to transform risks into potential for positive transformation.This report presents foresight scenarios on the global standing of the EU in 2040, in relation to Open Strategic Autonomy. They point to ways for the EU to build preparedness through anticipation. A Delphi enquiry enabled the engagement of experts who assessed and ranked the identified 'forward-looking issues' in terms of their relevance for shaping and securing the EU’s Open Strategic Autonomy towards 2040.Finally, we outline implications for leveraging the EU’s capacity to implement an Open Strategic Autonomy by 2040 and beyond. We highlight the ways in which the EU can use its existing strengths and develop further capacities, both by itself and through alliances. We address current weaknesses and upcoming challenges, point to ways of seizing underlying opportunities, and implementing identified priorities required to shape and guarantee Open Strategic Autonomy. The implications outlined should be considered as a set, as in this way they can ensure establishing a coherent policy framework.

This guide for public officials and policy makers outlines eight models for institutionalising representative public deliberation to improve collective decision making and strengthen democracy. Deliberative bodies like citizens’ assemblies create the democratic spaces for broadly representative groups of people to learn together, grapple with complexity, listen to one another, and find common ground on solutions. Increasingly, public authorities are reinforcing democracy by making use of deliberative processes in a structural way, beyond one-off initiatives that are often dependent on political will. The guide provides examples of how to create structures that allow representative public deliberation to become an integral part of how certain types of public decisions are taken.