Monographie de l'implantation d'un parc éolien dans les communes d'Ath et Silly

Report (2011)

Parliamentary Technology Assessment as Indications of Reflexive Modernization

in Technology in Society (2011), 33(1-2), 36-43

This article links the theory of reflexive modernization to Parliamentary Technology Assessment (PTA) by considering the latter as an indication of modern Western societies becoming more reflexive, that is ... [more ▼]

This article links the theory of reflexive modernization to Parliamentary Technology Assessment (PTA) by considering the latter as an indication of modern Western societies becoming more reflexive, that is, acknowledging and responding to the limitations of modern traditions by institutionalizing new processes of technology assessment to address a realm of change where uncertainty is no longer contained within modern structures. Our conceptual framework must address both the emergence and functioning of PTA in the form of institutions and the practices that are pursued within (or around, and linked to) such institutions, with due attention being paid to the multiple approaches currently being debated around the transformation of modernity and reflexivity. Reflexive modernization offers a relevant theoretical approach to analyzing hybrid entities like PTA institutions. We demonstrate this by analyzing three such institutions (Science and Technology Options Assessment [STOA, European Parliament], Institute for Society and Technology [IST, Flan- ders, Belgium] and Rathenau Institute [The Netherlands]), mapping their different approaches and practices in terms of features of reflexive modernization. There appears to be an overall reflexivity pathway, on which some PTAs have moved farther than others, but their progress is fractured by the resilience of modern institutions. We conclude that to ensure their role in the current institutional landscapes of evolving modern societies, the most important thing for PTA institutions is therefore to somehow develop a relevant approach while dealing with the necessary margin of maneuver for further adaptation and transformation. [less ▲]

Medicine and User Involvement within European Healthcare: a typology for European comparative research

in International Journal of Clinical Practice (2011)

« Je pense, donc je suis » : appréhender le changement dans les institutions

in Piet, Grégory; Wintgens, Sophie (Eds.) "Comment penser les institutions ?" (2011)

Dans son livre de référence: « How Institutions Think » , M. Douglas (1986) analyse comment, à travers le processus d’institutionnalisation, se construisent simultanément une identité organisationnelle ... [more ▼]

Dans son livre de référence: « How Institutions Think » , M. Douglas (1986) analyse comment, à travers le processus d’institutionnalisation, se construisent simultanément une identité organisationnelle, des règles légitimes en matière de comportement et de partage d’autorité et des ressources. Chaque institution développe ainsi un ordre qui lui est propre et une contestation d’une partie de cette structure provoque une remise en question de l’ensemble . Nous proposons de mobiliser le modèle culturaliste "grid-group" développé par M.Douglas (1986) pour analyser comment au sein d'une politique donnée (la politique scientifique), des dispositifs différents organisent des processus organisationnels particuliers contraignants les partenaires à endosser des rôles spécifiques. L'action publique peut mobiliser des instruments favorisant un mode de gouvernance bureaucratique (Programmes mobilisateurs) ou une dynamique de concurrence (Pôles de compétitivité). Le FNRS, pour sa part, organise une collaboration "mutualiste" qui contraint le groupe à entretenir ses frontières, par un travail répété de chasse aux sorcières et une opposition aux tentatives de bureaucratisation. Le cadre d'analyse reprendra la typologie développée par Hood (2008) pour les modes de gouvernance propres aux administrations publiques en distinguant, sur base de l'approche "grid/group", quatre modalités de base: random /mutuality /hierarchy / market. Elle permet de mettre en lumière des modes de fonctionnement internes aux organisations et d'en analyser les dynamiques de transformation. Car les institutions changent pour s’adapter à leur environnement et aux attentes émises à leur égard, ou pour formuler des réformes renforçant leurs logiques propres . [less ▲]

Handling complex risks issues in the domain of environment and health - SCOPE

Report (2011)

This research report has its origin in the notion that classical risk assessment paradigms no longer suffice to deal with complex, uncertain and ambiguous risks. Risk assessment was developed as a ... [more ▼]

This research report has its origin in the notion that classical risk assessment paradigms no longer suffice to deal with complex, uncertain and ambiguous risks. Risk assessment was developed as a scientific tool to tackle uncertain consequences of human activities by organizing, evaluating, integrating and presenting scientific information to inform decision-making. Over the years, this type of risk assessment has proved effective in protecting public health and the environment from major environmental hazards with high relative risks. In the modern „risk society‟ classical risk assessment fails to handle complex risks characterized by radical uncertainty and a plurality of legitimate perspectives and values. Public authorities have to deal with issues/risks were facts are uncertain and values are contested. To answer to the increased demands of policymakers and the public for guidance on risk management new processes for the governance of these risks need to be developed. Weberian bureaucratic structures and forms of cooperation are working in a logic of specialisation of work, where distribution of information and knowledge, structures of decisions and allocation of responsibilities are organised ab initio in a stable organisational frame. Such a structure is not capable of resisting to the emergence of new risks which are often not identified as such at start and require a more integrative form of assessment, integrating inter-disciplinary collaboration on a specific policy problem that is complex, uncertain, perhaps unlimited in temporal and spatial scale, and interlinked with other phenomena. If the frame of reflexivity (Beck, 2003) is adopted, we thus have to recognise that a global mastering of these risks is not possible. What is now requested is the settlement of conditions for another type of open debate. Experiments in new forms of public participation in the management of technological developments (like e.g. citizen panels on long-term storage of nuclear waste1, or on cars and health2) already inspired the public administrators in their search for new procedural forms of decision making in areas of uncertainty. For a certain category of risks inclusion of the public, next to industrial stakeholders, organised environmental interest groups and governmental agencies and administrations is warranted, to integrate different opinions and values and to develop adequate policies. Network governance should be developed, where stakeholders are invited to speak up and where power structures are reconsidered and flattened. Here the authorities are recommended to exercise their capacities not as a centre of knowledge and top-down decision, but as a facilitator for communication and collaboration within networking structures, mobilising numerous experts and stakeholders, including the population itself (Gilbert, 2002), to develop new options which are socially acceptable and technically efficient (Fallon et al., 2008a & b). This requires a different mindset where the plurality of frames and fluidity of boundaries; the need for contextualisation; the construction of unstable temporary networks, the plurality of rationalities and the inherent uncertainties, social and technical (Callon, 1986) of the issues considered. As uncertainties are recognised, scientists are not anymore expected to close the controversy but rather to contribute to the technical quality of the process. The public decision-making process (DMP) should be designed to organise the conditions for an optimal tradeoff between scientific soundness and social acceptability of decisions, in a context where the precautionary principle is relevant. The key issue, framing or “structuring the research questions”, is a method for deciding how to manage scientific uncertainty. From literature review and past studies, we posit that a better quality DMP could be achieved by using tools for an integrated and comparative risk assessment and management. These approaches rely on interdisciplinary risk assessment – relevant soft and hard sciences are engaged together into the knowledge production process rather than mobilized side by side. Concretely, it involves designing the steps or sequences of the process and selecting/developing/adapting risk assessment and management tools. More specific, within the environment and health arena there is limited experience with these new concepts of integrated assessments (Briggs, 2008). Therefore case studies on various environment and health issues were performed to evaluate current integrated risk assessment practices, multi-level precautionary approaches and communication of complex risks. Different tools as Delphi, scenario workshop, etc. were used to analyse the issues at stake. The development of an integrated approach in risk assessment requires cooperation across policy domains and hierarchical structures. In the field of air pollution a science-policy workshop confirmed that in the domain of air quality policy, public servants communicate well with researchers from scientific institutions. The protagonists in Flemish air quality policy have a common scientific background and are technical experts. This observation puts into question a common discourse postulating that there is a „communication problem' or 'gap' between 'researchers' and 'policymakers'. This discourse as a description of a state of affairs does not suit empirical reality, and needs to be reformulated in more precise terms. If there is a communication gap, it is not to be situated between public administration („policymakers‟) and researchers („scientists‟), who share the same overall concerns, but between public administrations and ministerial cabinets. The analysis of risks related to electromagnetic fields (EMF), showed how the precautionary principle is reinterpreted differently at each different political level (European, Belgian, Wallonia, Regional) in order to better integrate the local institutional and political environment. In most cases, when this principle is put at the foreground, its use is mainly symbolic and incantatory. When implementing policies it does not seem to respond to some precautionary approach, but rather to the institutional dynamics which characterise each political level. We observed the reinforcement of the European role in the field of health & environment: in attempts to underline institutional cooperation at the federal level in Belgium and to reinforce the authority of the regional government on the Walloon territory. From this case study it is learnt that the new deliberative spaces to be developed should not be embedded in the dominant institutional structures. A structure such as promoted in the wake of "Technology assessment" (Delvenne, 2011) is capable of conciliating production of knowledge and uncertainties (the science pole) with the plurality of social perceptions (the civic pole) and the specific dynamics of the relevant polity (the political pole). New deliberative spaces should be capable of developing the basis for integrated and comparative approach for emerging issues with due attention to its political and institutional dimensions, while maintaining enough distance with the dominant frames and logics. Recently the Flemish administration on Environment, Nature & Energy proposed a note (framework) to deal with uncertain risks. The proposed framework will be tested in a pilot study for potential risks related to non-ionising electromagnetic radiation, and can later be extended to other risks. In a case study on Bisphenol-A (BPA), multi-level political communication was analysed. Political decisions were taken without socio-technical debate (Callon, 1986). The BPA issue was not very high on the social or political agenda in Belgium. There was no crisis, no strong pressure form NGO's. The question was managed first by the European authorities (EFSA & European Commission). The Belgian institutions were waiting for the European position. As the political decision did not encounter a strong contestation from the industry, this was an easy step for the political authorities, in Belgium and at the European level, to symbolically address the issue while avoiding considering the real uncertainties. When the decision was taken to ban the use of BPA in polycarbonate baby bottles, it was a political decision taken with the support of the scientific bodies (Superior Health Council) but without being embedded in any social debate (what about risks related to the chemicals which may substitute BPA?). It meant that the whole of uncertainties on the extent of risks related to the multiple exposures to different endocrine disruptors could not be put at the foreground in a public socio-technical debate. These case studies on the interplay with science, policy and stakeholders, on the framing of an environmental health policy problem, and on the management of complex risks (air pollution, EMF, BPA) contribute to recommendations on their governance. The question then becomes: is it possible to organize a precautionary decision making process to deal with different legitimate frames and the necessary trade-offs when considering policy alternatives? Concretely it is advised to pay attention to the role of a focal point in the process, potentially taken up by public administrations, to the co-production, availability and organisation of knowledge and information, and to the progress of the process. Above all it is important to set up a platform for issue framing and problem definition to highlight key factors that need to be assessed: - Examine the policy and stakeholder learning network related to a specific issue, with special attention to policy domains that are affected by or are affecting the environmental and health issue at stake. Specify who has interests in the issue and who should be involved. An efficient stakeholder network analysis is important for the further progress of the DMP. define who is allowed to take part in the process across different policy areas - Examine the information database before setting up a more integrative approach, both from a scientific (including uncertainties) and technical (alternatives, CBA analysis) point of view and from the side of concerned stakeholders. Policy makers acquire information from different inputs from science, stakeholder organisations, socio-economic actors and the public at large, as well as from administrations and staff members, and are conscious of the structural and constitutional constraints. It is clear that a balanced process of information gathering that is transparent, contributes to better decision making. - Initiate and manage the process: find out who will carry the process, set up a series of interactions between administrations, between administrations and cabinets, between administrations and research, between administrations, research and the public. Usable and meaningful available information on the issue should be communicated clearly to all stakeholders. It is innovative to look at how stakeholders increase their knowledge through different inputs and through communication, information and interaction. - Iterate where needed: information gained in one dialogue should be fed back into other fora. An equilibrium between acceptability – tolerability – uncertainty should be established. - Move forward / conclude. In the total policy cycle the conclusion or decision may be revised, when (1) monitoring of implementation and following evaluation is considered as negative; (2) new knowledge / experience / issues have to take into account. - Ensure an efficient and socially appropriate allocation of the resources and an adequate management of residual risks. Last but not least, in a precautionary approach it is also required, to contribute to the public trust in the decision making process and to construct social acceptance of the final decision. Generally, a precautionary decision making process should be considered as a double-pronged learning dynamics: on one side, the authorities are required to better take into account the multiple frames which abound in our pluralist societies when organising the conditions of political trade-offs for the governance of risks. On the other side, the citizens should have the possibility to, not only understand, but also adopt the decision and its consequences and to conform to its implementation. It is important to develop specific communication processes to successfully implement these two faces of a precautionary approach in the governance of risks, while ensuring this dual learning process. New procedures are currently developed which could support the communication dynamics for promoting multiple frames and comparing openly different alternatives (e.g. open process workshop; atelier scenarios; Delphi). [less ▲]

Struggling with emerging instruments in Belgium: how do institutions adapt to contingency of tentative governance ?

Conference (2010, October 29)

During the last decennia, the Walloon region in Belgium has launched new instruments to support university research, with a turn to a more systemic and strategic vision. A new program called "Poles of ... [more ▼]

During the last decennia, the Walloon region in Belgium has launched new instruments to support university research, with a turn to a more systemic and strategic vision. A new program called "Poles of Competitiveness" supports collaborative research in areas selected as strategically important by the Government (eg. pharmagenomics). This dynamics piles up on the new pattern of support to the valorisation of research within the universities, with new public funds available for IP valorisation and support to spinoffs. The Government is also associated with major pharmaceutical firms and university research centres in public-private partnerships. These are three examples of the policy lines developed at the regional level under the mantra of "open innovation", emphasizing the importance of close collaboration between university and industry researchers within "interorganisationnal networks of learning". These new instruments interfere with established forms of distributed governance: industry partners are called upon to take the lead in the strategic management of large research programs and universities entered rapidly the game, while the regional administration was put on the side. Based on field research (interviews with actors of the STI in Wallonia), the paper proposes to discuss the impact of this transformation on the actors of the STI regime (university organisations; researchers; public administration). How does this new macro-narrative transform the existing socio-technical landscape? Why do the political authorities avoid any form of opening of the governance process? The collected material is rich enough to apprehend the complexity of institutions, norms, discourses and networks of the different stakeholders within the STI regime and to analyse how they adapted to take advantage of the new set of policy instruments. How do the partners position themselves with regard to the very narrowly instrumental logics of the "poles of competitiveness"? Administration is trapped with visions of public services somehow at odds with the new rationale for more university-industry partnerships. University researchers themselves tend to enter these new playing field while keeping the freedom to lay back on other historically available instruments. Tentative governance is a dynamic reality, open to the tensions of the set of actors associated to the process. Instruments and institutions are to be considered not as static but as dynamic, undergoing continuous transformation to adapt to contingency, particularly as long as the scientific sector considered is an "emerging one" where all the actors are fighting to keep open the rules of the game. [less ▲]

Adaptative struggle in "institutions of knowledge" : constructing internal orders in the chaos of social transformation

Conference (2010, September 04)

Since the 19th century, universities are the locus of most public research in Belgium, with a ongoing interaction with industry. After WWI, a group of industrialists succeeded launching a privately ... [more ▼]

Since the 19th century, universities are the locus of most public research in Belgium, with a ongoing interaction with industry. After WWI, a group of industrialists succeeded launching a privately financed "Research Council", the FNRS (Fondation Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique) with the support of the highest political authority, King Albert 1st. Historians (Halleux & Xhayet, 2008) documented how this specific institution emerged, from an industry based project towards a "mertonian" institution of knowledge contributing to unify the scientific community at the level of the country, while bypassing the historical divisions of the three worlds of universities (state; catholic; free). Based on a recent field work on the transformation of the instruments of science policy in Belgium, this paper proposes to analyse in some depth the dynamics of transformation of the FNRS at its emergence as well as the transformations this institution had to go through in order to survive till now : under the same acronym, the institution had to transform itself in order to adapt to social change and pressure for transformation. The main steps were to maintain its independence while being funded by the state (after WWII); to reinforce its identity in competition against emerging strategic science policy instruments; to stand the pressure to democratisation which opposed its elitist model in the organisation of research; to survive the decentralisation process which affected all political structures in the country after 1968 onwards. This analysis will unveil some of the mechanisms of adjustment which it had to mobilise in order to survive, and particularly the practicalities of the forms of cooperation of the different stakeholders supporting the institution through 80 years of existence: the researchers themselves as members of the "community" this institution is serving; the authorities of the three main universities whose positions have continuously grown; industry partners and political authorities. We propose to prolong this analyse by a comparison with the processes of emergence of the ERC (European Research Council), an institution also devoted to the identity construction of a specific scientific community ( but a community without a real "polity") and also struggling with stakeholders for the definition of settings of community participation and administrative and political control. At 80 years of distance, we observe the emergence of two institutions similarly designed to support the emergence of a "scientific collective" : they design autonomously their internal procedures of categorisation and hierarchisation, with identification processes contributing to the definition of institutional boundaries defining a specific field while ensuring its inscription in the society through a specific legitimating strategy (Douglas, 1986). A diachronic analysis helps underline how socially constructed are these institutions, and how the configuration of networks are continuously redesigned to better be embedded in a specific historic society (Laborier, 2003). [less ▲]

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: integrating multiple frames in Flanders and Wallonia air policies by using the Delphi method

Conference (2010, June 21)

A new European frame has developed stepwise to manage the health effect of air pollution from particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2,5), backed by an international body of scientific knowledge and OMS reports ... [more ▼]

A new European frame has developed stepwise to manage the health effect of air pollution from particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2,5), backed by an international body of scientific knowledge and OMS reports. The European Union CAFE Directive (2008) leaves the Member States with an important margin to translate the air quality objectives into action plans. In Belgium this policy is entirely left to the regions which developed different frames and decisional spaces. Belgium is a pollution 'hot spot' because of the variety of pollution sources it is faced with (traffic density, industrial density, transboundary pollution). As such, it provides an interesting ground for comparative research. We conducted a comparative research in the two largest Belgian regions and identified two decisional spaces that differ on a political, administrative and technical levels. Earlier research on risk management has pointed out that transversality, openness, and interdisciplinarity positively affect the quality of decision making under uncertainty. In that perspective, can specific tools help foster a transversal and integrative approach in air policy? In the Scope-project, a web-based tool using the Delphi method has been tested in the two regions. This allowed to put forward some hypotheses concerning the potential for transversality, interdisciplinary and openness in these different structures and decisional spaces. The results of the experiment and its potential for generalisation will be discussed at length. [less ▲]

Impact du visiteur médical indépendant sur la pratique des médecins de première ligne

Report (2010)

The objective of this project is to analyze the effects of AD on the practice of the general practitioner. The report is based on three research questions: • Is there evidence in the literature about the ... [more ▼]

The objective of this project is to analyze the effects of AD on the practice of the general practitioner. The report is based on three research questions: • Is there evidence in the literature about the (cost) – effectiveness of academic detailing programmes for primary care physicians? • What is the GP’s perception of academic detailing visits in Belgium? • Is there any noticeable change in the prescription behavior of Belgian GPs after the visit of an academic detailer? [less ▲]

Analysis of the institutional and organisational conditions of the surveillance systems available in Belgium for viral diseases.

Report (2010)