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Seeking Evaluator for the European Project VOICES

Seeking Evaluator for the European Project VOICES – Views, Opinions and Ideas of Citizens in Europe on Science Ref.: SiS.2013.1.2.1-1 – Citizen’s active participation in EU Research and Innovation policy-making (Coordination and Support Actions: Grants to Named Beneficiary) VOICES is EU funded project coordinated by Ecsite, the European Network of Science Centres and Museums. VOICES is a Europe-wide public consultation process in the area of urban waste to pilot a methodology and process to involve European citizens in the definition of research priorities. Members of the Ecsite network will host 99 focus groups, involving a total of 990 citizens in all 27 European countries to provide ideas, values, needs and expectations about the theme “Urban waste and innovation”. The results of the consultation will be used by the Consolidation group set up with call SiS.2013.1.2.1-2. The methodology used for the public consultation adheres to the highest academic standards and will be validated by an advisory group. The data from the consultations will be analyzed and aggregated at national and European level; citizens and stakeholders will be able to comment on the results before these are finalized. A series of public events will disseminate the results of the consultations and will highlight the participatory process. Moreover, an on-line tool will document the entire process and will provide open data access to the results of the consultation. The project will be externally evaluated with respect to process and outcomes.

An independent evaluation is required in order to corroborate the quality of the project and the participatory processes, and to provide suggestions for improvements in the future.

The subcontracted evaluator will utilize a coherent framework for evaluation that will clearly define participation and project quality. While the evaluation might focus on the qualities of the focus groups (the main mechanisms through which citizens’ voices are to be collected), it is anticipated that the evaluation will appreciate that this phase is only one part of the broader project, and hence, that it will chart and analyze the stages of the processes that precede the focus groups (e.g. methodology development and assessment) and that follow from it (e.g. tracking the fair and efficient utilization of the outputs from the focus groups).

The external evaluator should be looking at the effectiveness of the project regarding its main objectives, namely:

1. A consultation process to involve around one thousand European citizens in discussing the European research priorities for the theme “Urban Waste and Innovation”; the consultations will take place in 33 locations across all 27 European countries; 2. Develop a structured methodology for the consultation – covering training of future moderators, implementation of the consultation process and analysis – based on academic research; 3. Create an online tool that supports the process and the methodology, and provides full transparency on the activity thanks to an open data approach; 4. Provide input to a group of experts that will define the actual priorities for the next work programme on “Urban Waste” (call SiS.2013.1.2.1-2).

The evaluator will be responsible for: • Define the mechanisms for ensuring evaluator access to subsequent follow-up stages to this project (in which experts assess the results from this project and make recommendations for future research to the EU: i.e. SiS.2013.1.2.1-2). • Gather information and feedback in various ways, for all relevant tasks of the project, such as: questionnaires for focus group participants, events and meetings observation, interviews, etc. • Indicate what methods will be used, how, when, and why, for each part of the evaluation process. • Attending relevant meetings of the project in Brussels, namely the Advisory Meeting of experts on 8 February and the Moderators’ Training Workshop on 6-8 March 2013. Attending at least some of the focus groups being held in EU countries during the month of March 2013. Attending a Stakeholders Meeting during the month of May 2013.

The evaluation budget is €80,000 and includes all costs (such as travel, communication expenses, production and translation of materials and taxes if applicable).

Interested applicants should submit a description of the methodology they would use to evaluate the project (two pages maximum), as well as a CV (two pages maximum) by Wednesday 6 February 2013 at 5pm CET.

Candidate selection will take into consideration the following aspects:

• Experience working in international projects. • Experience in science in society issues and in related consultation processes. • Experience in evaluating large complex projects, particularly those that are related to participatory processes. • Familiarity with the activities of science communication institutions. • Candidates must work in a EU country

To apply for this position, please contact Marzia Mazzonetto, VOICES Coordinator: mmazzonetto@ecsite.eu