EPSA 2017 update and related activities

Dear EPSA friends,

The last EPSA Newsletter sent out at the end of November last year covered the EPSA 2017 Final Events and Award Ceremony, with a special mention of the three award winners which were introducted with a short project description. Since then, the EPSA Team have been analysing the main findings and trends of the EPSA 2017 best practices and have started discussions with several winners and/or nominees with a view to disseminate their best practices across Europe by means of open or contract activities. Negotiations are ongoing and we are confident that an agreement will soon be reached.
More information on this in our next Newsletter.

Moreover, as you know, each edition of the EPSA scheme is supported by several partners including in 2017 the European Commission, seven European countries, the province of Limburg and the city of Maastricht who provide both institutional and financial support. In 2017, we had in total 10 such partners.

These supporters are represented in the EPSA Steering Committee, whose tasks are:

1. to discuss and decide on the selection of the EPSA theme(s) based on the proposal of possible topics which has been elaborated and discussed by EIPA
2. to assist and provide guidance to EIPA in all the strategic decisions in relation to the EPSA
3. to monitor and supervise its financial implementation
4. to act as national contact points (¨EPSA ambassadors¨) for the purpose of promoting and disseminating all relevant information (e.g. call for applications, press releases, results) in the respective country territories.

The EPSA Team are now preparing the next meeting of this Steering Committee that will take place on 20 February next at EIPA Maastricht. On that occasion, we will report on the 2017 edition, assess its overall management and results, and discuss future prospects as well as future developments and possible adjustments.

Here too, the outcome of this meeting will be communicated in the next Newsletter.

Activities of interest

One key element of the EPSA 2017 theme of innovation in the public sector was innovation in the design/co-creation of public services to make sure that the delivery methods used will work in practice and will provide what really matters for citizens.

This was shown in EPSA 2017 by examples such as The Co-operation Fund (from EUIPO), Digital Justice (from Spain), Sea Traffic Management (an EU project led by Sweden), Crime Reduction Toolkit (from UK), A root and branch reformation of an organisation’s business model (from the region of Crete) and Robby the Rat (from the city of Breda). It was also central to EPSA 2015 projects such as Room for the River and River Bed Vegetation Map (from the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment).

Using effective evaluation in design/co-creation of public services also underpins to the key idea that public sector budgets - especially in hard times – should allocate resources to what is a priority for citizens. This was a key aspect of EPSA 2017 projects such as Maps of Healthcare Needs in Poland and Participatory Budgeting Portugal.

In the EPSA spirit of knowledge transfer we are pleased to announce that we have now further developed and broadened the idea of the use of impact evaluation in design for citizens and co-creation with stakeholders in our forthcoming EIPA course “Learn How To Master Theory-Based Impact Evaluation” to be held on 21-22 March 2018 in Maastricht.

Click here for more information.

We hope that this information is of interest to you and will get back to you with more news in March.

Kind regards,

The EPSA Team

Keep on checking www.epsa2017.eu for updates!

The EPSA brings together the best, most innovative and efficient performers from the European public sector. Outstanding administrative performances are, after all, produced under different conditions within Europe.

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