Policy and Governance

Head of Programme: Ilpo Tikkanen


Recent and ongoing forest and environmental policy deliberations on strategic directions of future policies in Europe, at both European and national levels, call for an improved knowledge base for the formulation of new policies, new decision-making approaches, and new modes of implementation as well as new applications for monitoring policy implementation. Forests and the forest sector are facing rapidly changing economic, social and environmental conditions that form an interrelated complex of interlinked issues that are threatening forest-based welfare in Europe. These issues, and related policy relevant information needs, have been clearly identified, e.g. in the context of EU Forest Action Plan Review, Green Paper consultations as well as Forest Europe’s work on towards a legally binding agreement on forests in Europe.

Policy science provides tools and scientific approaches for analyzing and evaluating the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of planned and implemented policy instruments, programmes, mechanisms and institutional arrangements. The knowledge base on the outputs, outcomes and impacts of implemented policies and programmes at the moment is still at a rather modest level, leading to calls for enhanced policy research capacities and related resources.

The Policy and Governance Programme aims at:
- identifying and promoting relevant key research topics in the fields of forest-related policies and forest sector governance,
- enhancing and building capacities and networks for future policy analysis and evaluation,
- conducting empirical policy analyses and evaluation,
- assisting the Director in coordinating EFI’s advocacy function, and
- facilitating policy support services vis-à-vis Forest Europe, European Parliament and EU Commission.

Unit's activities

Capacity building and networking

Policy analysis and evaluation

Advocacy and policy support

For projects under Policy and Governance Programme, see Project Database

For staff in the Policy and Governance Programme, see staff pages