Building capacity for evidence-informed policymaking in governance and public administration in a post-pandemic Europe : country analysis, policy recommendations and implementation roadmap Czech Republic

This report is the result of the two-year long multi-country Technical Support Instrument project 'Building capacity for evidence-informed policymaking (EIPM) in governance and public administration in a post-pandemic Europe' conducted by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the OECD and funded by DG REFORM. The project's goal is to improve the effectiveness of the participating Member State's public administrations, through greater capacity for supply and uptake of scientific knowledge, evaluation and evidence in policymaking and thus to provide recommendations on reforms of the science-for-policy ecosystem in countries that requested support. The project was conducted in seven EU countries: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands. This Final report delivers findings gathered through common effort of all involved parties - local national experts, JRC experts in charge of this project, as well as the beneficiary organisations (BOs) and other stakeholders that worked on a common goal to improve the uptake of scientific research in policymaking. The key chapter of the Final report is the Roadmap that provides concrete recommendations on how to strengthen EIPM processes in governance and public administration, with a focus on governance structures, processes, and resources leading to design and implementation of public policies and on narrowing the competence gaps of scientists and policymakers. This report is unique in its systemic approach to the topic of science-for-policy providing both deep analysis of the Czech EIPM ecosystem, mirroring it with international best practices as well as providing detailed and elaborated interventions for its reform. Furthermore, this report is unique in relation to the involvement of the stakeholders in the co-creation process and the production of the report. Especially some of the involved organisations significantly contributed to the report and helped to build up and strengthen the community around science-for-policy, which we hope will thrive further. Most of the participants closely collaborated and followed the project from the very beginning or joined in the course of the process. Their comments, and valuable insights helped to establish the consensus around this topic, which was established through various rounds of consultations with the BOs. This is an important strength that adds to this report's significance and creates strong ownership among the parties potentially involved in the implementation of the proposed interventions. Building on this strong consensual ground, with a strong support at political decision makers' level, the proposed interventions will lead to a well-functioning EIPM ecosystem in the Czech Republic that inevitably increases trust in the government.