Poverty Reduction in Europe: Social Policy and Innovation (ImPRovE)
Background
Several EUROMOD teams participated in Poverty Reduction in Europe: Social Policy and Innovation (ImPRovE), a project financially supported by the European Commission and coordinated by the University of Antwerp.
Aims
The ImPRovE project aimed at improving the basis for evidence-based policy making in Europe in the area of poverty, inequality, social policy and social innovation in Europe.
Description and methods
As part of the project, EUROMOD was used to analyse policy drivers of poverty outcomes in the past, estimate the impact of the crisis and ensuing austerity measures, as well as to develop budget-neutral policy scenarios for reaching the Europe 2020 poverty reduction target. In addition, it was used to analyse the distributive effects of childcare in a number of European countries, as well as to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of targeted and conditional benefits.
Within ImPRovE, EUROMOD-related analyses were part of a broader research agenda that also included the development of cross-nationally comparable reference budgets, an in-depth study of local forms of social innovation, and an evaluation of policies aimed at improving the condition of minorities such as the Roma. The two central questions of ImPRovE were:
- How can social cohesion be achieved in Europe?
- How can social innovation complement, reinforce and modify macro-level policies and vice versa?
This was done by carrying out research that is directly relevant for policymakers. At the same time however, ImPRovE invested in improving the long-term capacity for evidence-based policy making by upgrading the available research infrastructure, by combining both applied and fundamental research, and by optimising the information flow of research results to relevant policy makers and the civil society at large.
Team members
Dr Chrysa Leventi
Senior Research Officer - ISER, University of Essex
Dr Alari Paulus
Research Fellow - ISER, University of Essex
Professor Holly Sutherland
Research Professor and Director of EUROMOD - ISER, University of Essex
Ms Iva Valentinova Tasseva
Senior Research Officer - ISER, University of Essex
Dr Paola De Agostini
Senior Research Officer - ISER, University of Essex
Ms Olga Rastrigina
Senior Research Officer - ISER, University of Essex
Start date
01 Mar 2012
End date
29 Feb 2016
Funder
EC FP7
Data source
- EUROMOD