Impact Assessment (IA) of planned policies is increasingly perceived and used as a tool to consider the concerns of Sustainable Development from early on in decision making. For such assessments, a wide range of evidence from many different disciplines is needed: For example, agricultural policies impact on soil, water, climate, employment, economy, third countries, etc. The main objective of the FP7 NoE LIAISE (Linking Impact Assessment Instruments to Sustainability Expertise) is to build up a broad interdisciplinary community of researchers and practitioners in the field of IA, which develops a mutual understanding of the respective needs and potentials. The website (http://www.liaise-noe.eu/) is an important tool for information exchange within the LIAISE project and for linking-up with external parties involved in Impact Assessment. We provide daily news on different issue areas relevant for Impact Assessment and Sustainable Development. We also publish a regular News Bulletin to which you may subscribe. You are strongly invited to use this LIAISE website for the dissemination of your research projects and other IA related activities. We also look forward to your feedback on this website and your views on joining the process towards an IA community.
The LIAISE session will be structured as follows:
1. Presentation and discussion of four papers:
2. A roundtable discussion on how to conduct research in a meaningful way that addresses the pressing issues of our societies and supports policy makers in their strive for sustainable development? What is needed to solve the issue of the “Policy orientation vs. research orientation” as described in section 2? And how can we secure that science makes an impact on real-world processes?
