Evaluating transformative innovation policy in a formative way: Insights from Vinnova’s food mission experiment

This article presents the insights from an evaluation of a transformative policy experiment, in the food domain, conducted at the Swedish Agency of Innovation (Vinnova). To be consistent with the principles and objectives of these policies, it was necessary to implement a formative evaluation approa...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Boni Aristizábal, Alejandra, Velasco-Malaver, Diana Carolina, Molas Gallart, Jordi, Schot, Johan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/348649
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/348649
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Transformative innovation
Formative evaluation
Policy evaluation
Vinnova
TIPC
Evaluators’ role
Descripción
Sumario:This article presents the insights from an evaluation of a transformative policy experiment, in the food domain, conducted at the Swedish Agency of Innovation (Vinnova). To be consistent with the principles and objectives of these policies, it was necessary to implement a formative evaluation approach developed in the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (TIPC), that is supportive of experimental policies designed for highly complex and uncertain environments. The article presents the main characteristics of this approach and its differences and similarities with other proposals to assess transformative innovation policies. Next, the article describes how the evaluation was conducted in Vinnova during a 2-year engagement. Subsequently, the main insights gleaned from the process are highlighted in terms of (1) understanding the expectations of actors; (2) what has been learned by doing, from a technical and organizational point of view; and (3) the constraints that emerged during the engagement. It is then argued that the TIPC- formative evaluation approach challenges the role of evaluators, stretching them, and requires different attitudes from those that are common in evaluation practice.