Evaluating Public Research and Innovation Policies: A Short History of Co-evolution

In this article, we present the mutually development of R&I policies and R&I policy evaluation with a specific focus on Germany and the EU. We show that there has been considerable development in the field of R&I policy evaluation over the past decades, in terms of underlying theories, methodological approaches and the emergence of an R&I evaluation community. The field of R&I policy evaluation has naturally interacted and grown in parallel with the changes in R&I policy and practice as well as scientific advances. In line with the actual claims of R&I policy to support transformation, R&I policy evaluation has engaged in a debate around more responsible and inclusive evaluation procedures. The discussion about “responsible metrics” and societal stakeholder engagement in evaluation studies are examples of it. Our overview of evaluation practice has shown that the R&I policy evaluation community need continuous, in-built critical reflection on the (incessantly changing) role of evaluation in R&I policy.