Governance, Policy Action, Evaluation and Entrepreneurship

How can national regulatory frameworks be designed to promote innovation while preventing the deepening of inequalities?
How does evaluation in global development generate rigorous, policy-relevant evidence while critically engaging with the power relations, values and politics that shape development practice and knowledge production? 
How do evolving military and gray zone threats to societal and institutional integrity reconfigure global-regional-local policies and actions and necessitate a transition toward polycentric, people-centric governance arrangements for the preservation of democratic agency, sense of security and global peace?
How do partnerships among public and private organizations, civic collectives and individuals inform pathways towards enhanced quality of life? 
How do communities, local governments and enterprises organize their economic lives? And how does this translate into a post-capitalist economics? 
In what ways do grassroots-led governance innovations shape decision-making processes, policy outcomes and societal transformation?

Keywords: Political, economic and social systems; Social mobility; Equality; Sustainability

The Governance, Policy Action, Evaluation and Entrepreneurship Academic Team specializes in rigorous public policy analysis, examining how institutional frameworks can be optimized to increase the public good.

The researchers develop and employ advanced evaluation methodologies including quasi-experimental methods, theory-based evaluation and participatory and co-creative evaluation to understand the impact of development interventions by a broad segment of society, including governments, private enterprises, and non-government and grassroots organizations.

They work collaboratively, actively partnering with central and local governments, civil society organizations including grassroots, national and international organizations, social enterprises and academic networks to study and refine governance structures in developing and advanced economies.

Empowering actors with knowledge and insights to build resilient and prosperous societies

The research conducted by this Academic Team bridges the gap between theoretical and academic discourses, contributing to the development of empirically grounded middle-range theories of governance and public policy, as well as practical evidence-based solutions for today’s global challenges. 

The researchers strives for people-centric governance by prioritizing broad-based societal legitimacy and the preservation of democratic agency.

The aim of their research is to empower policy actors with the knowledge and insights necessary to build resilient and prosperous societies.

Water, Securitization and Border Imaginaries (WASABI)

How communities living round water borders experience and influence security and territorial issues

Find out more about the WASABI project

Indices of Social Development

Using 275 indicators to track how societies perform along six dimensions of social development

Consult the ISD database

Dr Marijn Faling
Assistant Professor Policy and Project Evaluation Academic Teams
Development policy; Collaboration; Evaluation; Food
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Dr Georgina Gomez
Associate Professor in Institutions and Local Development
Local economic development; Social economy; Informal governance
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Dr Shyamika Jayasundara-Smits
Associate Professor in Conflict and Peace Studies
War; Armed conflict; Security; Geopolitcs; Planetary Peace
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Professor Dirk-Jan Koch
Network Professor of International Development Practices
International development; Aid agencies; Evaluation
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Dr Gerard McCarthy
Assistant Professor Social Policy and Generations
Political Economy of Social Policy; Platform Capitalism; Conflict
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Dr Rodrigo Mena
Assistant Professor of Disasters and Humanitarian Studies
Disaster governance and risk reduction; Climate Change; Humanitarian Action
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Dr Bilge Sahin
Assistant Professor Conflict and Peace Studies
Gender and Armed Conflict; Feminist Peacebuilding; Everyday Security Governance
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Dr Sreerekha Mullassery Sathiamma
Assistant Professor, Gender and Political Economy
Feminist political economy; Feminist critique of digitalization and AI; Debating decoloniality
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Professor Irene van Staveren
Professor of Pluralist Development Economics
Community economy; Post-capitalism; Collective enterprises
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Dr Sunil Tankha
Assistant Professor of States, Societies and World Development
Public Policy & Administration; Economic & Political Development; Artificial Intelligence
Meet Sunil