EPIIC: Environmental Policy Integration - Innovation and Change

Project Description

EPIIC (Environmental Policy Integration – Innovation and Change) is a one year desk study to identify urgent pressures on integrated environmental policy across Ireland's system of public administration in key cross-sectoral areas e.g. energy, emissions and climate change, transport, agriculture, marine resources, public expenditure, etc. and to examine the possibilities for Environmental Policy Integration (EPI) to assist in addressing these challenges. Whilst consideration of EPI in Ireland is not new, NESC notably commissioning a number of studies on the concept, there has been little empirical research on the extent to which Irish environmental governance is integrated. EPIIC will identify and assess the strengths and weaknesses of EPI considering the current state of the art in this area. EPIIC will examine the application of EPI in an Irish context, seeking to identify examples of good practice in the system of public administration. A key focus will be upon EPI related to policy learning and innovation. EPIIC will take a focused look at reviewing the possibilities and opportunities for EPI to provide methodologies and solutions for practical application to overcome challenges and barriers. This study employs a comparative approach drawing insights from EPI experiences in Scotland and Northern Ireland that are relevant for Ireland. A key output will be a report for policy-makers to identify low-cost, soft-policy instruments that can best enhance EPI and offer greater promise of tangible and implementable approaches to the EPI concept for the administrative and governance models and culture in Ireland. Ireland is currently on a burning platform of onerous international legal obligations with regard to environmental concerns and challenging and ambitious economic imperatives. This report for policy-makers will offer options for low-cost and implementable methods to make progress towards integrated environmental policy in that regard.