Premiere for annual conference on policy processes

January 24 – 25, political scientists from Luleå University of Technology, Mid Sweden University, Uppsala University, Helsinki University and University of Colorado Denver gathered in Luleå to discuss methodological issues concerning policy processes.

“Policy processes is a theoretically driven field. Thus, there´s a need to strengthen the methodological discourse within policy processes”, says Felicia Robertson, post doc at Luleå University of Technology and organiser of the event.

This was the first time that the conference was organised, but the aim is that it should be an annual event at Luleå University of Technology and function as a platform for researchers in the field where knowledge about how policy processes work in practice can be developed. One of the conference days was focused on the participating doctoral students during which they got the opportunity to discuss their methodological problems with some of the top researchers in the field.

“It is good to have a network of people with whom you can share knowledge. It is, not the least, important for doctoral students to realise that their senior colleagues grapple with similar problems”, says Felicia Robertson.

Among the topics discussed during the conference were:

• Identifying the policy entrepreneur and measuring policy entrepreneurship: challenges and ways forward

• Using machine learning to document disaster framing and climate policy action globally

• The trials and tribulations of collecting and analyzing comparative policy network data

• Coding Emotions in Policy Debates: A Comprehensive Guide to Techniques, Implementation, and Key Lessons

• Coding and capturing beliefs in Swedish proposals: insights and challenges

• Future of policy studies in Europe

The conference was held both on site and online. Those who attended the conference on site were invited to outdoor activities on the ice in the Luleå harbour.

Next conference will be held in January 2025.