TIAS in EU-funded H2020 €4.5m COGOV project
June 27, 2018 | 1 min read
An international consortium including TIAS School for Business and Society and Tilburg University has been awarded €4.5m funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program to study the strategic renewal of public services across Europe.
The three-and-a-half year project will have nine partners, including universities, municipalities and private companies from six European states; the UK, Denmark, The Netherlands, France, Croatia and Slovenia. The funding will be used to explore new approaches to involving the public in the governance and co-creation of public services across Europe.
Professor Nicolette van Gestel, Academic Director of the Executive Master of Public and Non-Profit Management at TIAS School for Business and Society, is the Dutch project coordinator of COGOV, which stands for Co-Production and Co-Governance.
The award confirms TIAS’ and Tilburg University’s commitment to European-wide research and collaboration, and illustrates how TIAS/Tilburg academic research is excellently-placed to contribute significantly to successful European bids.
The research project, titled ‘Understanding the transformation of European public administrations’, draws for the Dutch contribution on the expertise of Prof. Van Gestel and will also include two new appointments in research. A key strand of the study will examine the role of frontline professionals in innovation and creativity in Europe’s public sector, e.g. in agencies for work inclusion, and publicly funded museums and art galleries. In particular, it will investigate how these organisations have responded to contemporary challenges, with a special focus on the use and development of digital technology.
Professor Van Gestel, an expert in public governance and management added: “The project emphasises that taking a strategic approach – rather than a short term focus - to the renewal of organisation and management of European public administrations is a key requirement for improving citizen’s participation in public governance across Europe”.
The project aims to locate, explore and diffuse leading edge experiments in new and more participatory approaches to public administration. It relies on a strong pan-European collaboration of academic and policy partners and is strongly connected to, and informed by, practice.
Professor Jenke ter Horst, Vice-Dean of TIAS School for Business and Society said: “This grant success highlights our commitment to partnerships with universities and other partners across Europe to help solve European challenges through high-quality research.”