LIAISE Policy Brief No. 4 on "'Setting up young farmers' CAP measure in rural areas of Greece" has just been published.The imbalanced allocation of age- classes with high share of older farmers against younger ones, and the difficult access of young and well trained farmers to the primary sector are important factors that negatively affect the rural areas in most of the European countries. 'Setting up young farmers' is a measure of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that tries to answer these problems. A Test Case Study was set up in the context of the LIAISE project in order to measure the direct and indirect impacts of 'Setting up young farmers' measure in rural areas. Among the various models and tools that could be used to understand Rural Development Programme (RDP) effects and measure its impacts, the Multicriteria Decision Analysis approach was selected. We used this approach to assess the impacts of the measure in rural areas (prefectures) of Northern Greece, focusing on economic and social impacts. The results of the Test Case highlight the importance of context-sensitive methods for generating and disseminating knowledge taking into account local information needs. The "Setting up young farmers" RDP measure was implemented in two programming periods, 2000-2006 and 2007-2013 in the seven prefectures of the Region of Central Macedonia in Northern Greece.

LIAISE Policy Brief No. 3 on "Re-assessment of CO₂ and SO₂ emissions in energy sector by using LEAP-model: experiences from Estonian energy sector planning" has just been published. The LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning) model is a software tool for energy policy analysis and climate change mitigation assessment. In 2012, a re-assessment of LEAP modelling results on CO2 and SO2 emissions in the Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Estonian National Energy Sector Development Plan until 2020 (further referred to as the Energy Plan 2020) was carried out. The aim of this re-assessment was to find out to what extent the LEAP model results for the Energy Plan 2020 were achieved and what were the possible reasons for deviation. The results highlight the opportunities for policy learning through the re-assessment of modelling results and the need to find out how to include into Impact Assessment the uncertainties that remain outside the scope of models.

LIAISE Policy Brief No. 5 on "Scientific tools in Europe: focus and application options" has just been published. Policy Impact Assessment (IA) has been an obligatory procedure in the legislative process within the EU since 2002. It has to identify the likely impacts on sustainable development (specifically the social, environmental and economic impacts) of all major policy strategies and instruments prior to actual implementation. The link between IA and sustainable development is rooted in the 2006 renewed Sustainable Development Strategy. IA also provides the legal basis to feed scientific evidence into the policy process and to base policy-making on scientifically robust tools and results. In line with the recognition of the importance of IA for sound sustainable policies, the EC (DG Research and Innovation) has funded through the Framework Programmes (FP) 6 and 7 research supporting knowledge creation in this field. This policy brief presents an analysis of tools developed in the context of FP6 and FP7 undertaken by the LIAISE project. This assessment focused on the following interests of IA practitioners as tool users: Which policy area(s) do the tools address? Which impact area(s) are covered by the tools? Which jurisdictional level(s) can the tools be applied at? How can the tools be categorized? There exists a wide variety of tools that comprises: Quantitative and qualitative tools, such as models, scenarios, multi-criteria analysis and participatory tools, Tool components, such as indicators, databases and comprehensive analytic methods, Evaluation frameworks, toolboxes and platforms etc. serving as a higher level system for tool selection or tool linkage. These results are based on an analysis of 203 research projects designing tools for IA funded in FP6 and 7. The results shall contribute to addressing the science-policy interface of IA by identifying possible challenges for tool users and tool suppliers with respect to tool development and selection.

IAISE Policy Brief No. 1 on "Impact Assessment Systems and Tools in Europe: Current Practices and User Expectations" has just been published. This policy brief presents the key findings on the most comprehensive survey yet conducted of user needs and expectations with regard to Impact Assessment (IA) systems and tools in 17 European countries. The survey was carried out by researchers from the LIAISE Network of Excellence, who collected data through documentary analysis and interviews with 130 people who steer IA at a strategic level, i.e. those people who champion, oversee, guide, audit or write guidance for IA processes. A more detailed description of the survey’s results can be found in the LIAISE Innovation Report No. 2 (January 2011).