Foresight, policy analysis and evaluation

High-quality analysis to support policy making is the heart of policy planning. Over the years, ex-ante and ex-post policy evaluations have analysed the competitiveness of the Estonian and other Baltic economies and the performance of possible policy developments. IBS has placed particular emphasis on strategic planning, analysing the implementation of EU cohesion policy and its impact on member states’ economic and regional growth. We have increasingly prioritised assessing the effects of EU policies, particularly regional policy, in the member states. Through analysis, evaluation and the development of policy recommendations for economic and regional development, we also aim to raise public awareness of the issues at stake and broaden the dialogue for better policy making.

IBS was one of Estonia’s first implementers and developers of the foresight methodology. Foresight aims to assess, with the help of experts, the most influential and likely future trends and to use them to design scenarios that will help guide future strategic decisions and longer-term planning. We have used foresight in preparing Tartu’s new energy and climate plan, as well as in several studies, e.g. to create development scenarios for the Estonian bioeconomy.

Learn more about foresight, policy analysis and evaluation.