New framework agreement regarding public sector consultancy almost there

For the past six months, much effort has been put into preparing a new and refreshed version of the agreement between Aarhus University and the Ministry of Food and the Environment (MFVM). Now the four-year agreement is on the brink of completion; all that is missing is the formal signature, but in practical terms it has already taken effect.   

- Even though there has been some reconstruction, the main pillars have been set and the shop is still open for business, says the director of DCA – Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture, Niels Halberg, about the work on the agreement regarding public sector consultancy. He has helped shape the agreement and is satisfied with the result.  

- The agreement will ensure openness, transparency, and quality in the public sector consultancy that Aarhus University delivers to MFVM – and to the great satisfaction of the ministry, says Niels Halberg. 

In many ways the new four-year agreement is similar to the old one, but there are also new features. With help from Niels Halberg we will take you on a trip through some of the most important points. Hold on to your hat because there are some terms that you will need to keep straight:  

• Framework agreement
• Performance agreements
• Effort areas
• Quality assurance 

Framework agreement is the overarching agreement

A new feature is that we now have a common framework agreement for DCA and DCE in one. The framework agreement between MFVM and AU is the foundation for the annual basic grant to the departments and center units in DCA and DCE. The money goes to indirect expenses (e.g. building operation), research and advisory services. 

A management group comprising the directors for DCA and DCE (Niels Halberg and Hanne Bach, respectively), dean of ST Niels Christian Nielsen, and ST’s vice-dean for knowledge exchange Kurt Nielsen as well as a range of leaders from MFVM are responsible for the framework agreement. 

Performance agreements create the technical framework

The framework agreement contains six sub-agreements, the so-called performance agreements. The performance agreements describe the technical framework for the research-based public sector consultancy that AU carries out according to the framework agreement. The six performance agreements cover the following areas:  

• Animal production
• Crop production
• Food and consumer behaviour
• Nature and water
• Air, emissions and risk evaluation
• The Arctic

Tasks regarding the three first performance areas go to DCA, while the tasks within the last three areas go to DCE. The performance areas do not necessarily fall within certain departments. On the contrary, the tasks are solved across disciplines. To ensure interdisciplinarity there are contact persons in all departments for the topics under the six performance areas, the so-called effort areas. These contact persons will ensure that expert knowledge is not overlooked.   

Each performance agreement has a management group. These comprise department heads from the relevant departments in DCA and DCE, the directors of DCA and DCE, and representatives from  MFVM’s  technical units, usually office managers.   

- With this more technical composition we have lifted the professional competence and can include the relevant expertise from the agencies in a more direct dialogue with the departments, says Niels Halberg. 

Every year each performance area will prepare a work programme that corresponds to the previous ”Addendum 2 – Concrete tasks”. 

- A thorough description of upcoming tasks will make it possible for both us and MFVM to create a more precise overview of the use of resources and time allocation between the different types of tasks, i.e. whether they concern research, advice, acute emergencies or monitoring, says Niels Halberg. 

MFVM has shown increasing interest in gaining better insight into how we divide our time between research and advice so that the ministry can use the time allotted for advice to the maximum. This means that from 2017 we must record how we use our time in a new way. To this aim a new model for keeping track of work hours and finances is being developed. This new model is expected to be finished during the course of this year.

Effort areas describe concrete research themes

Each performance agreement contains descriptions of the effort areas within the performance area. It is from these theme areas that we commit ourselves to delivering research-based advice to MFVM. 

- On the whole, the effort areas match the 13 previous theme areas, but now they are distributed in a more logical way, says Niels Halberg. 

Within the performance agreement ”Crop production” there are the following scientific effort areas: 

• Crop breeding and pollination, crop health aspects and crop protection, and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) 
• Climate-smart production systems
• Fertilisers, standards, and nitrogen prognosis
• Technology – agriculture and crop production
• Soil and soil conditions, including digital data, maps and picture analysis
• Green transition and biomass
• Targeted regulation and measures
• Agricultural reform and public green benefits

- It is no coincidence that the areas to a great extent match AGRO’s flagships and include all important research areas from the departments MBG, ENG and FOOD. MFVM has been very responsive to our input and there has on the whole been a good and constructive cooperation with MFVM and NAER, says Niels Halberg. 

Openness, transparency and quality assurance go hand in hand

A new feature of the framework agreement is a five-point model for including scientific contributions from external partners. The aim for MFVM is to ensure greater openness and transparency in relation to the outside world and ensure the quality of the public sector consultancy.  

1. The responsible agency can include relevant experts and stakeholders before the task request is sent to us.
2. Basically speaking, the solved task can be published as soon as it is delivered.  
3. The agency responsible can send our advice to consultation. MFVM sorts political from technical comments. The technical comments are sent to us and we decide supremely if we include the comments in our final solution of the task.
4. In certain large tasks a project document describing methods and data will prepared. MFVM can display the document to obtain external comments before we begin solving the task.
5. MFVM wishes to improve its possibility to get a second opinion from other experts and also wishes that our research environments undergo regular international reviews. 

- We have been very hesitant with regard to item 4. We know from experience that it is basically very difficult to sort the technical from the political in the comments from interest groups and that this can postpone the solving of the task. However, it is a strong desire from MFVM, so the procedure will be introduced on a trial basis for a year, says Niels Halberg. He is more enthusiastic about item 5.

- If item 5 is to have any meaning, then some of our advice needs to written in English so that we can include foreign experts in the quality assurance because in certain of our research areas there are not enough experts in Denmark. I think the second part of item 5 is a good innovation. It can also be used as a mark of quality externally. The two things interact well with our own quality assurance, which is described in the article ” ST prepares common public sector consultancy procedures”