Regions - ECOTEC in Europe
ECOTEC has extensive experience in providing research, consulting and technical assistance services to EU institutions, including the European Commission and the European Parliament. Our Brussels office was established in 1984 and continues to provide a physical presence in the European capital. We deliver European level work using the best available team drawn from offices across the company.
For many years, we have been recognised as a market leader in serving EU clients, particularly in the areas of:
- Employment, social affairs and equal opportunities
- Education, training and culture
- Information society
- Local and regional development
- Energy
- Environment
In these and other policy areas, ECOTEC is able to deliver large and complex projects that operate across all 27 EU Member States and beyond. Our team of international staff has expert knowledge of current European policies and the economic, social and environmental issues that influence them. Through this in-house team and our network of external associates, ECOTEC is able to undertake research in every EU country and all 23 official languages of the EU. Our multi-disciplinary teams can address the complexity of problems that cut across policy areas. In all our work for EU clients, we have access to the very highest level of expertise available across Europe.
Drawing on this substantial in-house and external expertise, our services for EU clients include:
- Impact assessments and ex-ante evaluations
- Feasibility studies
- Policy research
- Interim and ex-post evaluation
- Management of framework contracts
- Communication and dissemination activities
- Programme management and secretariat services
david.supple@ecotec.com
+44 121 616 3747
Case Study: Survey of the Socio-Economic Background of ERASMUS Students
The ERASMUS programme is one of the most visible European initiatives in education and culture, having enabled over 1,000,000 higher education students to undertake a Erasmus study period abroad since its inception 20 years ago. A key concern in relation to the programme is the extent to which it is reaching a wide range of students across all socio-economic backgrounds and aids international student mobility through its grants. When the Directorate General of Education and Culture of the European Commission recently decided to carry out a “Survey of the socio-economic background of ERASMUS students” it commissioned this to ECOTEC. The overall objective of the project was to update a similar survey originally carried out by the European Commission in 1998, to give an overview of the socio-economic situation of students who participated in the ERASMUS programme during the academic year 2004/05.
Over 15,000 responses of students from 30 countries were obtained through the on-line survey. The results showed that the participation in the programme of students from higher socio-economic backgrounds was prevalent, but progress had been made to expand participation to other groups over the last 10 years. ECOTEC's recommendations on how to further widen participation in the programme are currently being subject to debate at European as well as national level.
For information, download the full report.
