February 12, 2014Nesta, 1 Plough Place, London EC4A 1DE

Information session on why experiment with social policy?

Testing social policy innovationSupport Services for Social Policy Experimentation in the EU

2:00 - 2:15 Event registration & refreshments2:15 - 2:25 Welcome from Simon Flemington, Chief Executive, LSE Enterprise2:25 - 2:45 Hélène Giacobino, Executive Director, J-PAL Europe, ‘The case for SPE’2:45 - 3:00 Q&A3:00 - 3:45 Panel discussion on the need to experiment with social policy to drive innovation

Phil Sooben, Director of Policy, Resources & Communications, The Economic & Social Research Council (CHAIR)

Dr Simona Milio, Associate Director, Social Policy and Cohesion Unit, LSE Enterprise

Hélène Giacobino, Executive Director, J-PAL Europe

Jonathan Breckon, Head of Alliance for Useful Evidence

Arnaud Vaganay, LSE Enterprise

3:45 - 4:15 Q&A and concluding remarks4:15 - 5:00 Coffee and Networking

Event briefing: Why experiment with social policy?

About the project: SPARK is a new European-based network for Social Policy Analysis for Robust Knowledge.

SPARK brings together policymakers, practitioners and researchers to promote Social Policy Experimentation and share ideas on developing, trialling and evaluating new policies.

LSE Enterprise, J-PAL Europe and The Alliance for Useful Evidence  have received funding from the European Commission DG on Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion to provide support services to the Commission to develop social policy experimentation in the EU.

Through information sessions, training days and our network, we will raise awareness of the importance of experimentation within social policy and help build capacity within organisations and administrations involved in designing, implementing and evaluating social and employment policies.

This programme is implemented by the European Commission. It was established to financially support the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employment, social affairs and equal opportunities area, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals in these fields. The seven-year Programme targets all stakeholders who can help shape the development of appropriate and effective employment and social legislation and policies, across the EU-27, EFTA-EEA and EU candidate and pre-candidate countries.”

For more information, please see our website at www.alliance4usefulevidence.org/spark or twitter @SPARK_Europe