Ethical Markets Media European correspondent Lisa Cowan will be covering the “Statistics for policymaking: Europe 2020” Conference in Brussels – March 10-11, 2011.
The aim of the conference is to bring together politicians and statisticians in a dialogue about how to shape statistics underpinning policy making and political decision making. How should indicators be defined so that they measure what politicians want them to measure? How should politicians and statisticians cooperate in order to get the best possible outcome on both sides?
Topics covered by this conference align with the work Hazel Henderson did as part of the organizing committee for the Beyond GDP Conference in Brussels for the European Parliament in 2007 where the findings of a global survey from Ethical Markets Media and Globescan reported majorities in 10 countries supporting metrics of national well-being other than GDP. A follow up study, Continued Public Support for Going ‘Beyond GDP’: Global Poll, released by Ethical Markets Media and Globescan in January 2011 reports similar findings, now in 12 countries.
This Eurostat conference will focus on the role of statistics in policymaking and political decision-making, using the Europe 2020 strategy as a case in point. It will discuss the role statistics played in the formulation of the strategy and the role it will have in its implementation. This will be done in a broader framework of statistics used for evidence based decision making where the statistical support for the Europe 2020 strategy is a concrete example. Background paper
A plenary session will be followed by 3 parallel sessions on statistics for: Session 1 – Smart growth: innovation indicators, education, digital Europe; Session 2 – Sustainable growth: indicators for green growth; Session 3 – Inclusive growth: indicators on poverty and social/economic exclusion. Full program
Eurostat is the Statistical Office of the European Communities situated in Luxembourg. It is a Directorate General of the European Commission and its task is to provide the European Union with a high-quality statistical information service.
All participants are kindly invited to register their participation by following this link. No fees are required to attend this conference.
For any questions concerning the content of the conference, please contact Mr Ales Capek, Head of Unit D-5 “Key indicators for European policy” (ales.capek@ec.europa.eu, Tel: +352 4301-36045). For administrative/organisational questions, please contact Unit A1 “European Statistical system governance”: (estat-conference-1@ec.europa.eu) or call: Ms. Marie-Paule Scheidhauer (Tel: +352 4301-37275) or Szilvia Opoczky (Tel: +352 4301-31966).