Interest from Stakeholders

Here is a feedback we have received from a regional authority based in Cyprus

"Thank you for sending the ocopomo project. I find this project particularly interesting as I do work in regional government and in addition deal with European Programmes. I look forward to seeing more of the pilot policy modelling and scenario generation.
I have browsed through the website and the blogspot. I think there are some very good ideas in there especially on the side of forecasting best case scenarios in strategic planning as a means of ensuring policy impact. Some examples on the practical side on spatial planning are greatly anticipated!"

Reconnecting people and politics through policy modelling and scenario generation

If you have an example of a correct forecast of a policy impact, then you are very lucky. An extensive literature search and open discussions over the Internet with policy makers and policy modellers has failed to turn up a single example of such a correct forecast. Emotional words such as "vulnerability" and "quality of life" are as treacherous as they are useful. They mean different things to different people and, especially, to different interest groups concerned with almost any policy. It doesn't take much of a search of the academic or professional literature or newspapers and magazines to find differences of opinion on what effects any policy will have on these features of society. At the same time, there often seems to be a lack of agreement or even discussion on what these words mean.

4 questions to ask yourself if you’re a policy maker

1. Do you feel in discussions about policies that other interested groups simply do not understand your position, your concerns or even your objectives?

2. How often have you relied on formal models or theories that have been accurate guides to the impacts of any policy?

3. Do you speculate about the ways in which your policy proposals will lead to your policy objectives?

4. Do you find yourself using words like "trust“ and "sustainability“ in ways that convey your concerns but don't seem to be understood in the same way by others?

If you’re interested in the answers to these questions, then you may also be interested on the developments of the OCOPOMO project. Stay tuned!