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TCI 2015 Generating Cluster Policy Learning through Evaluation
The document discusses the challenges and progress in cluster policy evaluation, highlighting the importance of collaborative learning and sharing experiences among stakeholders. It emphasizes the need for improved methodologies to capture the impact of cluster policies, addressing issues such as intangible outcomes and the complexity of policy mixes. The document aims to foster discussions on effective evaluation practices that enhance trust, social capital, and actionable insights for policymakers.
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TCI 2015 Generating Cluster Policy Learning through Evaluation
- 1. Generating Cluster PolicyLearning through Evaluation Madeline Smith, James Wilson & Emily Wise Cluster Lab 2
- 2. Cluster Evaluation Cluster Lab| Daegu, Republic of Korea 5th November 2015
- 3. The Story SoFar • Common Challenge • Complex • Increasing importance • Sharing learning • Identifying gaps • Trying new
- 4. Cluster Evaluation WorkingGroup • Over three years of work • Workshops, conference presentations & discussions • Newsletter updates • Website zone March 2015 Working group meeting Rzeszow, Poland November 2015 TCI Conference Cluster Lab Daegu, South Korea
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- 7. Belfast March 2014 DiggingDeeper into questions
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- 9. Rzeszow March 2015 HumanElement • Framework • Firm Level • Test /iterate Benchmarking • Sharing • Learning On-line discussion
- 10. Daegu TCI 2015 Thiscluster lab is a forum to: • Address sticky issues • Leverage TCI knowledge • Collaboratively tackle shared challenges • Create better solutions to cluster evaluation
- 11. Agenda • State ofplay of cluster evaluation • Exercise: ‘the perfect cluster’ • Working on ‘sticky problems’ • Wrap up
- 12. The Challenge Despite proliferationof cluster initiatives, there is a shortage of evaluation research and practice • Leaves cluster policies open to questions • Prevents learning How then do we develop better approaches to capture the impact of cluster policies and foster learning around how to improve them?
- 13. Methodological Difficulties Direct outcomesare intangible & difficult to isolate • Space for debating issues that may only generate solutions in the longer term • Higher trust and social capital • Spillovers to agents outside the cluster initiative This it is difficult to rigorously show whether or not cluster policy has positive effects: “pick and mix of research evidence” (Perry, 2005)
- 14. Heterogeneity & PolicyMixes • Variety of policies in ‘cluster’ family • Complex relations with other competitiveness policies Source: Magro & Wilson (2013)
- 15. A generally acceptedframework ...contribute to increased interactive learning and collaborative research and innovation projects ...which contributes to increased innovation, international attractive- ness, productivity and growth Activities to strengthen or upgrade a cluster/ innovation environment... Input/Resources Activities Results/Outcomes Effects 3-10 years >10 years Structural capital (tangibles) Social capital (intangibles) Results/Outcomes 3-10 years
- 16. Evaluation as Learning •Evaluate across why, what & how • Not audit – all about learning • How to influence policy improvement and cluster management improvement simultaneously
- 17. Emerging approaches Quantative Impact Studies QualitativeCase Studies Towards ‘mixed methods & evidence’ (smart combination of pieces of evidence gathered by different people) Social network analysis Participatory evaluation Realist evaluation
- 18. The Perfect Cluster •A user journey story from the perspective of the cluster • If we were starting, growing, internationalising and diversifying the perfect cluster, how would we evidence its development?
- 19. The Perfect Cluster CreationGrowth Internationalisation Diversification Activity: What is happening? Actors: Who is involved? Resources: What money & physical assets are being used? Social Capital: What type of behaviour do we see? Results: What is being generated?
- 20. Sticky Problems 1. Howcan we capture the right information (qual/quant) without making evaluation excessive? 2. How can we measure/evidence trust building and collaborative strength? 3. How do we ensure evaluation is about learning that is useful to both clusters and policy makers?
- 21. Sticky Problem Groups ExperienceAudit • What methods/approaches have we used before? Experience Reflection • What was good about these and what issues have we had with them? Solution Generating • Can we combine experiences to address gaps and find better solutions?
- 22. Summary and NextSteps Key learning from today? How to take it forward?
- 23. Cluster Evaluation Cluster Lab| Daegu, Republic of Korea 5th November 2015