About
Smart4Policy is an online self-reflection tool. Its purpose is to help policymakers and researchers working in science-for-policy reflect on their level of competence in various fields.
It helps you understand where your strengths are and which areas of improvement you have. Based on the results, you can make an informed decision about your personal learning and development plan.
For example, you could aim to be a generalist, who is somewhat good at everything. Or you could be a specialist, who aims to be excellent at one or a few connected areas of competence.
Importantly, the competences are a collective set of activities, which organisations should be able to perform. But no individual policymaker or researcher can be expected to excel in all or even many of them.
The tool has been created and is maintained and managed by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.
Background
The questions and statements in Smart4Policy are based on the competence frameworks ‘Innovative Policymaking’ and ‘Science for Policy’.
These frameworks were developed over the course of two years in an iterative process with policymakers, researchers, learning and development experts, governance scholars and topical experts. They describe overarching competences, which policymakers and scientists in the science for policy field need in their work. Each competence is structured into knowledge and understanding (what you know), skills (what you can do), and attitude (what you apply), and 4 competence levels that describe which activities someone on a certain level is expected to perform. Smart4Policy follows this structure with some questions referring to your knowledge, some to skills and abilities, others to attitude and mindset, and lastly some to activities you have performed on the job.
Doing Self-reflection
Completing a self-reflection in one session takes around 30 - 60 minutes, but you can save your self-reflection and return later. You can also decide to answer only some competence clusters. Then it takes less time.
Upon completing the questionnaire, you will automatically receive a report on your competence level in each cluster with suggested next steps and resources. This report is for you. Its purpose is to help you chart the next steps in your personal learning and development journey.
The tool is not designed to assess performance, but to empower you to reflect on your competences and improve where you find it most rewarding or see the biggest need. Therefore, be honest when answering the questions. If you lie to yourself to boost your performance ‘on paper’, you will receive less relevant feedback.
You can return after some months or years, when you feel you have made relevant progress in some of your competences, do another self-reflection, and compare the result to your previously completed one(s).
When starting a self-reflection, you will be asked to agree to the use of your answers for research purposes. We want to do further research, for example to improve Smart4Policy, to offer targeted courses or training offers, and to check the competence frameworks. You don’t have to agree to your data being used for research, but you would help us a lot by doing so.
During the self-reflection, don’t worry if you find your experience is low in many fields. Remember: Nobody can be an expert in everything!
Who is behind Smart4Policy?
Smart4Policy has been developed by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission together with policymakers, researchers, governance scholars, and learning & development experts. To contact the team, please write an email to: