Regional Policy and Evaluation

Project:

Ex-post evaluation of the Czech Rural Development Programme 2007 - 2013

Submitter:

Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic

Investigator:

IREAS centrum, s.r.o.

Project duration: 

02/2016 – 12/2017

Description:

The project was aimed at the ex-post evaluation of the Czech Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 implementation. The evaluation team of IREAS processed an assessment of the Axis III - Quality of life in rural areas and diversification of the rural economy and Axis IV - LEADER. The evaluation was based on treatment responses to the evaluation questions defined in the European Commission's guides to the ex-post evaluation (i.e. Guidelines for the ex post evaluation of 2007-2013 - Toolbox 2 Set of revised common evaluation questions), and also on specific issues under the intervention program logic. From the partial analyses, there were also processed evaluation questions at the program level linked to the value achieved by impact indicators, including the evaluation of the fulfilment of planned targets for impact. Specific emphasis was also placed on conformity assessment results and impacts of the strategic priorities and objectives of the Community Health Check.

Project:

Evaluation of the impacts of the area of support 1.1 of the Operational Programme Human Resources and Employment applying qualitative methods

Submitter:

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic

Investigator:

IREAS centrum, s. r. o.

Project duration: 

1/2015–8/2015

Description:

The principal objective of this evaluation was to evaluate the working, results and impacts of the projects within the Area of Support 1.1 of OP HRE to the supported companies and their employees using qualitative methods, and to formulate recommendations for determining support features in the corresponding sphere of the Operational Programme Employment for the programming period 2014–2020. Based on the agreement with the Contracting Authority, the subject matter of the evaluation (sphere of survey) were the projects applied within Calls No. 23, 35, 39, 60, 82, 92, 94, A1, B1 and B3.

The evaluation has been composed of the following evaluation tasks that were further segmented into evaluation questions:
• Evaluation Task 1 - Elaborate a descriptive analysis of the projects and companies supported from OP HRE, Area of Support 1.1;
• Evaluation Task 2 – Evaluate the relevance of OP HRE projects within the Area of Support 1.1;
• Evaluation Task 3 – Do a qualitative evaluation of the impacts of OP HRE projects within the Area of Support 1.1 on the supported companies' current status;
• Evaluation Task 4 – Do a qualitative evaluation of the impacts of OP HRE projects within the Area of Support 1.1 on the employees of the supported companies;
• Evaluation Task 5 – Evaluate the activity focused on establishing or developing educational / training systems applied in OP HRE projects within the Area of Support 1.1;
• Evaluation Task 6 – Elaborate 10 case studies of OP HRE projects within the Area of Support 1.1.

Project:

Evaluation of the social and inclusive entrepreneurship support in the Operational programme of Human resources and employment (OPHRE)

Submitter:

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic

Investigator:

IREAS centrum, s.r.o.

Project duration: 

05/2013 – 01/2014

Description:

Project focuses on the evaluation of function and existing results of projects supporting the social and inclusive entrepreneurship in the OP HRE and Integrated Operational Programme. Partial attention is focused on elaboration of recommendations for the next ESF and ERDF programmes in 2014 – 2020. The evaluation is divided into 3 evaluation tasks:
     1.  Evaluation task 1 focuses on the analysis of problems and their reasons in the issue of inclusive and social entrepreneurship. The purpose of the analysis is to identify key problems and challenges of the Czech Republic in this sphere according to planning of public employment policies and social inclusion by public intervention of ESF and ERDF.
     2.  Evaluation task 2 focuses on evaluation of a specific support of the social entrepreneurship provided by a global grant of OPHRE “Social economy” (call No. 30) and by the area of intervention 3.1c) Investment support of social services providers, employers and other organisations supporting tools of the social economy in the Integrated Operational Programme.
     3.  Evaluation task No. 3 focuses on evaluation of OPHRE projects supporting the inclusive entrepreneurship. Evaluation analyses the support of starts-up business of disadvantaged persons at the labour market.

Project:

Ongoing evaluation of the Operational Programme Research and Development for Innovation

Submitter:

Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports

Investigator:

IREAS centrum, s.r.o.

Project duration: 

2013 - 2016

Description:

The aim of the project was to conduct ongoing evaluation of OP RDI in defined areas and answering the evaluation questions and themes. The project was implemented in cooperation with HaskoningDHV CR (leader). IREAS team was responsible for the evaluation of the physical progress and financial performance of the program. Evaluators have used a wide range of evaluation techniques and methodological approaches. We successfully tested and subsequently applied method of Outcome Harvesting during the evaluation. Our evaluation team regularly focused on the most significant barriers to achieve objectives of the program, but also at the scrutinizing of planned and unplanned results and benefits of implemented projects. Specific emphasis was focused on the formulation of realistic and workable recommendations to the Managing Authority.

Project:

Analysis of the current state and prognosis of the Czech Republic´s aquaculture development in the period 2014 – 2020 in the context of the EU´s Common Fisheries Policy with the vision till 2024

Submitter:

Ministry of Agriculture, Czech Republic

Investigator:

IREAS centrum, s.r.o.

Project duration: 

05/2012 – 06/2013

Description:

Project focused on the elaboration of 2 key strategic national documents for the Czech Republic, period 2014 – 2020:
a)  Multi-Annual National Strategic Plan for Aquaculture
b)  Theses on the Operational programme 2014 – 2020: Aquaculture in the Czech Republic
Multi-Annual National Strategic Plan for Aquaculture, as a key national strategy, embodies the concept of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic in the fisheries sector until 2024. The purpose of this strategy is to establish the conditions for the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy in the Czech Republic. The document was developed after consulting the partners in the fisheries sector and academic experts. The Multi-Annual National Strategic Plan for Aquaculture will be subject to dialogue with relevant bodies of the European Commission. The key objective of the “Multi-Annual National Strategic Plan for Aquaculture” is to define the needs and national goals in aquaculture during the preparation for the future programming period 2014 - 2020. The Multi-Annual National Strategic Plan for Aquaculture contains an analysis of the current state, taking into account the history of the fisheries sector in the Czech Republic (hereinafter referred to as the “CR”) and reflecting important changes resulting from the accession of the CR to the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the “EU”). On the basis of these initial analyses, a qualified forecast for the further development has been formulated for two time periods, i.e. the medium-term outlook for 2014 - 2020 and the long-term outlook until 2024. A set of fundamental strategic recommendations has been developed in accordance with the sectoral analysis and forecast, considering the bases and principles of the reformed EU Common Fisheries Policy (hereinafter referred to as the “CFP”). The strategy has provided a basis for the preparation of theses on the Operational Programme for Fisheries 2014 – 2020, defining the specific conditions for mobilising the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

Project:

Assessment of the implementation of monitoring indicators in the Operational Programme Human resources and employment by evaluation

Submitter:

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic

Investigator:

IREAS centrum, s.r.o.

Project duration: 

02/2012 – 02/2014

Description:

The objective of the evaluation project “ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MONITORING INDICATORS IN THE OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME HUMAN RESOURCES AND EMPLOYMENT BY EVALUATION” was divided into the following list of specific evaluation tasks:
Evaluation task No. 1: Development of a methodology for the calculation of the values, assessment of the progress and current situation of monitoring indicators (07.42.80) Sustainability of Created Partnerships and (07.60.10) Improvement of the Conditions for the Reconciliation of Private and Professional Life.
Evaluation task No. 2: Interpretation of the values of monitoring indicators from task No. 1 (07.42.80) Sustainability of Created Partnerships and (07.60.10) Improvement of the Conditions for the Reconciliation of Private and Professional Life by means of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA).
Evaluation task No. 3: Calculation of the values, assessment of the progress and current situation of monitoring indicators (43.07.02) Effectiveness of Supported Projects and (43.07.00) Improvement of the Effectiveness of HRE Strategies and PoliciesImproved efficiency of strategies and policies in the field of HRE using a methodology provided by the sponsorcontracting authority, including qualitative textual comments.
Evaluation task No. 4: Development of a methodology to regularly determine the values and assess the progress of indicator (07.46.16) Proportion of Successfully Supported PersonsShare of successfully supported persons; calculation of values and their assessment at the time of data collection.
Evaluation task No. 5: Determination of the values, assessment of the progress and current situation of monitoring indicators (15.32.17) Reduction of the Duration of Court Proceedings – Regional Courts; (15.32.18) Reduction of the Duration of Court Proceedings – District Courts.

Project:

Pilot Counterfactual Impact Evaluation of the Operational Programme Human resources and employment, measure 1.1

Submitter:

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic

Investigator:

IREAS centrum, s.r.o.

Project duration: 

5/2011–12/2013

Description:

The Operational Programme Human resources and employment (OP HRE) in its measure 1.1 is oriented to business assistance in the field of human resources development. There have been assisted thousands of Czech firms.

The objective of the project is to conduct of a rigorous application of counterfactual impact evaluation (CIE) to answer the following questions: What was the actual causal effect/impact of the intervention on assisted projects from OP HRE 1.1 in comparison with the counterfactual situation without the intervention? What was the effect/impact on the competitiveness of companies (e. g.: growth in sales and profit), business investments in employee training, staff turnover, business growth expressed as newly created jobs.Are there any significant differences in effect on some groups of supported enterprises? If so, what?What is the mechanism of effect of the call on supported company? Why intervention is (not) work?

The project is not only about implementation of the counterfactual analysis, but also about processing this pilot evaluation as a case study for evaluation community in the Czech Republic. Then, it helps to identify areas of intervention of EU funds suitable for application of the CIE in the Czech Republic.

Project:

Analysis of the EU cohesion policy regional dimension and its new aspects: Relations of new domestic and european documents and their influence on the territorial development and SF´s future interventions in the programming period 2014+

Submitter:

Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic

Investigator:

IREAS centrum, s.r.o.

Project duration: 

04/2011 – 05/2011

Description:

The Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic ordered an analysis focused on the (re)search of current strategic domestic and european documents in the framework of preparation for the new programming period. The main objective of the analysis was to assess the regional dimension of the National Strategic Reference Framework of the Czech Republic and actual trends in the regional policy. The analysis also reflected sectoral policies and their territorial impact. Conclusions of the analysis provided for the Ministry of Regional Development a baseline for the preparation of the new programming period 2014 – 2020.

Project:

Annual operational evaluation of the Operational Programme Human Resources and Employment in 2010

Submitter:

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic

Investigator:

IREAS centrum, s. r. o.

Project duration: 

9/2010–6/2011

Description:

The main objective of the evaluation project was to evaluate the development of the OP HRE in 2010. Activities of this project started in September 2010 and were completed upon the hand over of the final version of the final report and a well-arranged brochure with the evaluation results in June 2011.
When working on this project, the research team used several different types of methods. Due to the need to verify the input information from multiple sources, multiple analysis processing methods were used - both qualitative and quantitative. The overall methodological approach was based on the evaluation set-up and its division into three key phases:
1.  To evaluate the development of the factual progress in the areas of priority axes 1–6 with respect to the originally established objectives and emphasis on qualitative analysis.
2.  Following the continuous partial outputs from the processing of the Task No.1 to evaluate with even more complexity the three areas of the programme implementation which can be expected to have the most potential for the development of the programme as a whole and achieving the planned objectives.
3.  To evaluate suggested possible topics for the focus of evaluation in 2011

Project:

Strategy of external and international relations of the Ustecky region

Submitter:

Regional Authority of the Ustecky region

Investigator:

EUROCONSULTANTS Ltd.
IREAS was a subcontractor of the EUROCONSULTANTS Ltd.

Project duration: 

11/2010 – 05/2012

Description:

The main goal of the project was to improve the public administration effectiveness of the Ustecky region by creation of the Strategy of external and international relations of the Ustecky region. The project was also partially aimed at conducting of training courses for officers and representatives of the Regional Authority of the Ustecky region. There were conducted the following set of activities:
A)  Analysis of needs and current state of external relations in the Ustecky region
B)  Creation of the Strategy of external and international relations of the Ustecky region
C)  Methodology of evaluation of external relations
D)  Setting the process of project management
E)  Preparation of training courses for officers and representatives of the Regional Authority of the Ustecky region

Project:

Evaluation and Optimization of the System of Indicators of Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation (hereinafter OPEI) 2007 – 2013

Submitter:

Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic

Investigator:

IREAS centrum, s.r.o.

Project duration: 

12/2009 – 03/2010

Description:

IREAS conducted the project “Evaluation and Optimization of the System of Indicators of Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation (hereinafter OPEI) 2007 – 2013”. The main objective of the activities performed was to evaluate and optimize the setting of objectives on the level of the Operational Programme as well as the setting of project indicators in terms of their connection to the objectives of support programmes and to evaluate OPEI indicators, priority axes and areas of intervention in the light of the prediction of the level of fulfilment of their target values with respect to the current economic development. The evaluation thus focused on improving the functionality of the system of OPEI indicators and the possibility of predicting the level of fulfilment of the newly defined target values of OPEI indicators by the end of 2015.

Project:

Introductory analysis for building of the absorption capacity

Submitter:

Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic

Investigator:

IREAS

Project duration: 

09/2009 – 10/2009

Description:

IREAS conducted the project „Introductory analysis for building of the absorption capacity“ for the Czech Ministry of Regional Development. The main purpose of the project was to identify problematic issues of the EU cohesion policy in the Czech Republic which are important for the successful implementation and building the absorption capacity. The absorption capacity of the EU Structural Funds was analyzed in the following sectors:
-    Municipalities,
-    NGOs,
-    Private companies (especially SMEs).
There have been analyzed financial, organizational and personnel capacities of institutions which are realizing projects financed by the EU Structural Funds. Specific attention was paid to the administrative requirements of the EU structural fund´s and the context of the function of implementation structures. Both the formal procedures and real impacts have been analyzed.

Project:

Ex-post Evaluation of the HRDP in the Czech Republic for 2004 – 2006

Submitter:

Czech Ministry of Agriculture

Leader of the consortium:

South Bohemia University, Economic Faculty

Partners:

IREAS and Ekotoxa

Project duration: 

07/2008 – 04/2009

Description:

IREAS participated at the project „Ex-post evaluation of the Horizontal Rural Development Plan (HRDP) in the Czech Republic for 2004-2006. The main objective was the comprehensive evaluation of the implementation process and effectiveness of the HRDP’s intervention programme in the Czech Republic during 2004-2006. The aim of the evaluation was to present the ex-post evaluation of the HRDP, as well as to create an appraisal of the programme results, an analysis of its effectiveness, and an evaluation of the results of the individual measures that make up the HRDP. IREAS conducted an evaluation of partial measures, the Early Retirement from Farming, LFA measures and selected horizontal evaluation tasks of the programme. Where appropriate data were not available, they were collected from surveys and interviews, carried out 2008 and 2009 specifically for the ex-post evaluation.

Project:

Reform of the EU CAP in the period 2007 – 2013 and its impact in the Czech Republic, the support from EAGF and EAFRD – educational project/traininig courses

Submitter:

Czech State Agriculture and Intervention Fund, especially the grant of the Rural Development programme for the Czech Republic in the period 2007 - 2013

Investigator:

IREAS

Project duration: 

01/2008 – 06/2009

Description:

The main aim of the project was to conduct a series of training courses, information activities and methodological support of Czech farmers and other interested delegates of relevant institutions. The object of training courses was to educate in issues of EU CAP reform, support of the competitiveness of the agriculture sector, requirements of cross-compliance, current experience with the support of the Czech Rural development programme 2007 – 2013 and innovations in the agriculture business. There were created educational materials and promotion basis for these issues. IREAS organized 20 seminars in 10 Czech counties (NUTS III).

Project:

Socio-economic, sociological and demographic conditions for maintenance and development of rural areas

Submitter:

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic

Investigator:

IREAS, o.p.s.

Project duration: 

7/2004–6/2007

Description:

Research project is addressing the issue of sustainable rural development. The solution of the above mentioned problem is based on research and analysis of the main determinats of socioeconomic, sociological and demographic rural characteristics. Methodology of the problem consists of two complementary and mutually dependent perspectives (the agricultural one and the rural one). The functional agriculture is a key driver for the rural development and on the other hand without a stable and balanced development in rural areas it is hard to await functional agriculture.