We provide content, processes and support to policymakers to tackle complex problems in a collaborative way. We run qualitative research, ask fundamental questions, challenge assumptions and test ideas that can lead to innovative solutions.
We synthesize and make sense of information, visualise systems and interactions, give form to policy concepts and make them tangible and relatable.
We identify user and system needs, engage stakeholders and facilitate cross-teams, sciences and policy collaboration and experiments to bring new practical and radical perspectives to current and future challenges.
Design for policy tools
Design tools make policies more tangible and collaborative, turning abstract ideas into experiences that can be explored and improved with users:
- Co‑creation workshops bringing policymakers, scientists and stakeholders together to frame problems and imagine alternatives.
- Prototyping of policy options, services or interfaces to test feasibility and usability early.
- Visual and participatory methods (journey maps, system maps, mock‑ups) to align diverse actors around shared solutions.
These approaches are used in initiatives like Futures Garden, the EU Harmonised Waste Sorting Labelling System, Intergenerational Fairness or the Water Resilience Experiment to bridge science, creativity and governance.

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Design for policy (32)
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Its a wrap! After more than three years of research, experimentation and collaboration, we are proud to announce the publication of the Technical Proposal for an EU Harmonised Waste Sorting Labelling System.
- EU Policy Lab tags
- Design for policy
- Behavioural insights

As the EU moves forward on its pledge to put Intergenerational Fairness (IGF) at the heart of its policymaking, the visioning phase has become an inspiring journey, filled with creative aspiration, honest dialogue and the practical tools we’ll need to build a Europe where every generation thrives.
- EU Policy Lab tags
- Foresight
- Design for policy
- Behavioural insights

Looking back at one year since we launched the design for policy community.
- EU Policy Lab tags
- Design for policy

What if policymakers could step into each other’s shoes, experiment with real-world scenarios and test collaborative strategies before making decisions? Find out how a serious game can help!
- EU Policy Lab tags
- Design for policy

How do we better protect the natural world when biodiversity is under unprecedented threat? If we want to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, we need to address the behaviours that drive it and how we design policies. To do this, all actors in society are key.
- EU Policy Lab tags
- Behavioural insights
- Design for policy
- Foresight

Why you should be thinking about using games in policymaking environments .
- EU Policy Lab tags
- Foresight
- Design for policy

What do ants and EU trainees have in common and what transforms a scattered multitude into a purposeful network?
- EU Policy Lab tags
- Foresight
- Design for policy

Find out how the EU Policy Lab has been co-creating Europe’s harmonised Waste Sorting Labels: lessons from our workshop series.
- EU Policy Lab tags
- Behavioural insights
- Design for policy

Imagine a Europe where the voices of the young, the old, those yet to be born, and even the living world (animals, plants and ecosystems) are all heard and valued equally around the same table.
- EU Policy Lab tags
- Foresight
- Design for policy
- Behavioural insights

What if, instead of just preparing children and young people for ‘the future’ we could hand them the tools to shape it?
- EU Policy Lab tags
- Foresight
- Design for policy