The role and functioning of public administrations in democratic systems

Call updates

Jun 14, 2024 3:58:06 PM

FLASH EVALUATION results

HORIZON-CL2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01

Published: 07/12/2022

Opened: 04/10/2023

Deadline: 07/02/2024

The total budget for the call was EUR 95.000.000.

The results of the evaluations per topic are as follows:

HORIZON-CL2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01-09

Budget for the topic: EUR 9.000.000 

Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls): 12

Number of inadmissible proposals: 0

Number of ineligible proposals: 0

Number of above-threshold proposals: 5

Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals: EUR 14803115,25

Number of proposals retained for funding: 3

Number of proposals in the reserve list: 1

Funding threshold: 11

(Proposals with the same score were ranked according to the priority order procedure set out in the call conditions (see in the General Annexes to the Work Programme or specific arrangements in the specific call/topic conditions).

Ranking distribution:

Number of proposals with scores lower or equal to 15 and higher or equal to 14: 1

Number of proposals with scores lower than 14 and higher or equal to 13: 0

Number of proposals with scores lower than 13 and higher or equal to 10: 4

Summary of observer report:

The observe the evaluation process of the single stage calls:

• HORIZON-CL2-2024-HERITAGE-01

• HORIZON-CL2-2024-TRANSFORMATIONS-01

• HORIZON-CL2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01.

The same independent observer reviewed the evaluation of the three calls. This enabled the observer to follow the entire process, to identify strengths and areas for possible improvements specific to the single stage evaluation, and to compare procedures and practices of a fully online evaluation with online consensus independent observer was appointed by the European Research Executive Agency (REA) to

meetings and online discussions.

REA staff ensured that for the topics associated to these 3 calls, all actors involved were fully informed about the background guidance and legal documents, procedures and standards of quality. The organization and management were very challenging because of the large number of topics and proposals. Interdisciplinarity embedded in the call texts added layers to the overall complexity.

The overall evaluation process was executed in full compliance with the procedures, code of conduct, and guiding principles of fairness, transparency and equal treatment of proposals. The rules and guiding principles for the procedures concerning each evaluation step were known in advance to the applicants, the evaluators and all the persons involved in the evaluations. The briefing materials made available to the external experts were of the highest quality as they provided all the relevant information in a clear and comprehensive way. Experts were asked to declare any potential conflict of interest and to ensure confidentiality of all information. The evaluation process was robust. No preferential treatment of any proposal was observed by the observer or reported by any expert. The discussions were fair and consistent with open and detailed online deliberations covering all the criteria and sub criteria to ensure clarity of issues (both in remote discussion meetings and/or in written communications within the evaluation system) arising and providing impartial feedback to applicants. REA continues putting significant effort into assigning proposals to evaluation groups that cover all the key disciplines relevant to the topic and provides structured training to moderators on how to help experts bridge barriers between disciplines through informed discussions that leave sufficient space for each discipline.

We recently informed the applicants about the evaluation results for their proposals.

For questions, please contact the Research Enquiry Service.

Feb 8, 2024 6:50:25 PM

PROPOSAL NUMBERS

The call HORIZON-CL2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01 has closed on 07.02.2024.

287 proposals have been submitted.

The breakdown per topic is:
HORIZON-CL2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01-09: 12 proposals

Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in June 2024.

Oct 4, 2023 12:00:06 AM

The submission session is now available for: HORIZON-CL2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01-09(HORIZON-RIA)

The role and functioning of public administrations in democratic systems

TOPIC ID: HORIZON-CL2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01-09

Programme: Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)
Call: Past, present and future of democracies (HORIZON-CL2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01)
Type of action: HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
Type of MGA: HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]
Deadline model: single-stage
Planned opening date: 04 October 2023
Deadline date: 07 February 2024 17:00:00 Brussels time

ExpectedOutcome:
Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

Better understanding of the changing concept and practices of public administrations and approaches to public management, emerging trends and paradigm shifts, and the role public institutions and public management play in in fostering democratic, economic and social stability.
Mapping emerging innovative solutions in public management and institutional framework conditions (e.g. human resource management policies, leadership, new ways of working, changing public decision- and policymaking, etc.) that enable innovation in public administrations and deepen democratic governance.
Recommendations for European Union Member States on key focus areas and (from local to EU level) actions as regards public administration modernisation and reform agendas, and whole-government innovation strategies for effective, innovative, future-capable and citizen-centric government administrations in Europe.
Scope:
Governments are excessively under pressure today to adapt and respond to rapidly changing global economic, social, political, ecological and technological trends, to develop better public policy outcomes and high-quality public services that respond to the needs of their citizens, and to transform their internal operations on the go, creating modern and innovative public administrations. This area of research intends to investigate how European Union governments are approaching public administration and governance reform i.e. what areas they strategically invest in, what challenges they encounter, what (national, European or international) support (expertise, finance) they capitalise on, and how they generally approach transforming their government administrations (through e.g. systems approaches, open government approaches, innovation portfolio approach, organisational framework conditions enabling innovation, etc.) as they face the challenges of today.

The true measure of the successful practice of public service lies in the ability of government administrations to remain faithful to the tenets of democratic society (e.g. respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities). Therefore, particular attention should be paid to the role and functioning of public institutions in democratic systems, their role in fostering democratic, economic and social stability, and in reforming public management and institutions in ways that enhance citizens’ trust in government and active participation in public affairs [e.g. engagement with citizens, open and transparent public decision- and policymaking, e-democracy, participatory and deliberative democracy, experimentation, working with innovation ecosystems (Quadruple and Quintuple Helix models), etc.], including emerging visions and narratives for public management and institutions.

To this effect, beyond the available literature review and internationally comparable data (e.g. World Economic Forum, United Nations, World Bank, European institutions, etc.), this research will need to involve intensive engagement with national government officials orchestrating and engaged in internal innovation processes, large-scale data collection and analysis, and drawing up illustrative cases from European Union Member States and OECD governments actively working towards improving democratic governance and innovation in government administrations.

Proposals are also encouraged to collaborate with the JRC unit working on strengthening and connecting science-for-policy ecosystems across the EU,[1] particularly with respect to projects interested in building the analytical foundations for reforms in public administration and in the science, technology and innovation system to improve evidence-informed policymaking processes, the use of expertise in policymaking, the establishment of boundary organisations and competence-building of knowledge brokers, and the public deliberation between science, policymaking, and society at large.

[1]See https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/evidence-informed-policy-making/topic/science-policy-ecosystems_en or https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/projects-activities/strengthening-connecting-science-policy-ecosystems-across-eu_en