The Second WWWforEurope Feedback Conference

The Second WWWforEurope Feedback Conference (FBC II), which took place on May 6th, 2015, in Vienna, marks the end of the second phase, the policy formulation phase, of the WWWforEurope project. Based on the analytical work carried out in the first phase and presented and discussed in the First WWWforEurope Feedback Conference in September 2013, the second phase aimed at intensifying the interlinkages between the five Research Areas and at paving the way for the project’s third and last phase, the synthesis phase.

Second WWWforEurope Feedback Conference - Opening Statement from WIFO on Vimeo.

The FBC II was mainly designed to collect internal and external impulses for the Synthesis Report, which represents the main output at the end of the project and is to be completed in March 2016.

WWWforEurope Feedback Conference Keynote by Catherine L. Mann from WIFO on Vimeo.

After a keynote speech by Catherine L. Mann (OECD) on new approaches to economic challenges, the five Area Chapters were presented, summarising the most interesting results of the work of the WWWforEurope Research Areas. These presentations were then used as the foundation for further discussions on policy implications and tentative conclusions of the project’s synthesis allowing the stakeholders to directly comment on the project’s synthesis.

Second WWWforEurope Best Paper Award from WIFO on Vimeo.

The second WWWforEurope Best Paper Award, a prize for a best paper on issues which have so far not been addressed in detail within the project but are of great importance (e.g. financing the welfare state in a low-growth environment) has been awarded to Marlene Karl for her paper "Are ethical and social banks less risky? Evidence from a new dataset". The WWWforEurope special prize for young researchers has been awarded to Stefanie Gerold and Matthias Nocker for their paper "Reduction of Working Time in Austria. A Mixed Methods Study Relating a New Work Time Policy to Employee Preferences".

The participants in the FBC II consisted of project partners who work in the five thematic Research Areas as well as of external experts and stakeholder representatives from European/international institutions, social partners, NGOs and academia.

Altogether the FBC II represents an important intermediary step towards the project’s synthesis.