Monografie
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- 2026-10-23
Academy of Evaluation. A capacity- building initiative for commissioning authorities
The chapter examines the Academy of Evaluation (AE), a pioneering capacity-building initiative for commissioning authorities in Poland’s evaluation system. Implemented between 2008 and 2017 through a partnership between the Polish National Evaluation Unit and the University of Warsaw, the AE delivered eight editions of postgraduate education to 250 civil servants from evaluation units across national and regional administrations. The chapter analyzes AE’s evolution from a technical training focused on “contracting evaluations” to a comprehensive educational framework centered on developing “knowledge brokers” – intermediaries who facilitate evidence-informed decision-making in public administration. Drawing on program documentation, participant surveys, external evaluations and reflective analysis, authors discuss AE’s Theory of Change, curriculum and pedagogical approach. The findings demonstrate that sustained academic programs can effectively build evaluation capacity among commissioning authorities, thereby improving the quality of terms of reference, contractors’ collaboration and professional networks within the evaluation system. However, the initiative’s impact was constrained by broader socio-institutional factors that affected evidence use in policymaking. The chapter offers insights for designing evaluation capacity-building programs, emphasizing adaptive programming, practitioner-academic collaboration and evaluation within the context of democratic governance. It offers lessons for initiatives strengthening evaluation systems through professional development, focusing on curriculum design, institutional cooperation and alignment with socio-political contexts.Otwarty dostępMonografieMonograph Chapter - 2026-10-23
Learning Agendas. From studies to streams of evidence
Learning Agendas (LAs) represent a strategic approach to addressing long-standing challenges in evaluation use, specifically the “two communities” gap between knowledge producers and users and the difficulty of synthesizing fragmented studies into coherent evidence streams. This chapter examines the conceptual foundations and practical implementation of LAs, which are defined as strategic plans for research and evaluation activities that provide important questions and plans for addressing them while balancing diverse organizational needs and time horizons. Drawing on empirical analysis of 24 US federal agency LAs developed under the 2018 Evidence Act and applications within EU co-funded programs in Poland, the chapter reconstructs the Theory of Change underlying LAs using “if–then” causal logic and the COM-B behavioral model. Key findings reveal significant variation in LA scope, stakeholder engagement approaches and structural elements, while identifying persistent challenges in question formulation, process visibility and stakeholder collaboration. The chapter provides practical guidance through an eight-step design framework for commissioning authorities, covering scope definition, user identification, stakeholder engagement, priority question development, timeframes, learning activities, dissemination and challenge mitigation. It concludes by highlighting LAs’ potential to promote democratic practices in evidence-informed policymaking through enhanced stakeholder participation, institutional learning and balanced integration of technical expertise with public values.Otwarty dostępMonografieMonograph Chapter - 2025
Ensuring a Dignified Life in Polish Law
Otwarty dostępMonografieMonograph Chapter - 2026-09-17
Reconstruction Error-Based Detection of Structural Anomalies in Scanned Documents Using Autoencoders and CNNs
Janik, MateuszNowak, JakubKorytkowski, MarcinScherer, RafałWitkowski, MaciejValenta, MichałMannová, BobaPergl, RobertPrzybyłek, AdamLang, MichaelLinger, HenrySchneider, ChristophIivari, NettaInsfran, EmilioVerification of scanned document authenticity is important for digital archiving, information security, and forensic analysis. This paper proposes a reconstruction error-based method for detecting structural anomalies in scanned documents. A convolutional autoencoder is trained on authentic document patches and used to generate reconstruction error maps. These maps are then classified by a CNN to distinguish the original scans from the reproduced samples. Experiments on a controlled dataset show that reconstruction error maps provide discriminative information for detecting artefacts introduced by document reproduction. The results should be interpreted as a proof of concept for controlled reproduction detection rather than as a complete solution for all real-world forgery scenarios.Otwarty dostępMonografieMonograph Chapter (Conference proceedings) - 2026-02-26
Gender-inclusive language
Androcentrism pertains to a tendency to view humanness through the lens of masculinity. This tendency is reflected in language, in which there is ample evidence that words used to represent all people are either grammatically or semantically biased to represent predominantly men. In this chapter, we describe the most overt example of androcentrism in language, that is: the (false) masculine generic. It is the most prominent example of androcentric language in which grammatically masculine words are used. They are aimed to represent everyone, regardless of their gender, yet discriminatory effects of such language are common. We then describe the current state of knowledge regarding reformatory attempts to change language that first focused on women, but then expanded to include diverse gender expressions. We also present considerations of the effectiveness of such changes. Finally, we review evidence that points out both cognitive and attitude-based obstacles in introducing changes in language and how these obstacles were addressed in intervention studies aimed at promoting inclusive language.Otwarty dostępMonografieMonograph Chapter