Praxis Centre for Policy Studies

Estonia

Sihtasutus Poliitikauuringute Keskus Praxis (Praxis Center for Policy Studies) was founded in 2000 as the first independent non-profit think tank in Estonia. Praxis is a non-governmental organisation which aims to improve and contribute to policy-making process in Estonia as well as in Europe. Politically independent, methodically highquality applied research and analysis constitute the core activities of Praxis. Also, in order to foster evidence-based decision making Praxis has been active in knowledge brokering and communication with different stakeholders.

Key personnel involved in the project

Reelika Leetmaa (Head of the Labour and Social Policy Programme)
Andres Võrk (Senior Analyst in the Labour and Social Policy Programme)
Kirsti Nurmela (Analyst in the Labour and Social Policy Programme)
Liina Osila (Junior Analyst in the Labour and Social Policy Programme)
Riina Sikkut (Analyst in Health Policy Programme)
Gerli Paat-Ahi (Analyst in the Health Policy Programme)
Reelika Ermel (Junior Analyst in Health Policy Programme).

Main tasks attributed to them in the project

Extending working lives. Praxis has previously analyzed the employment and lifelong learning opportunities of older workers in Estonia in different projects and will contribute to all the tasks described in the Extending working lives.

Pension systems, savings and financial education. Praxis will participate in task 1 “Intragenerational equity” and develop models for Estonia that explore the link between retirement income and individual and household labour supply before retirement.

Health and well-being. Praxis will participate in task 1. Task 1 has set a special focus on new Member States. Therefore Praxis would contribute data and knowledge on health indicators and healthy life expectancy (including changes in indicators during economic crisis) in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Social support and long-term care. Praxis has research experience with long-term care and social support systems and a strong interest in the area, particularly the identification of drivers and barriers of change for improving the social support and long-term care, and analysis of the impact of social support and care policies on individual life-cycle decisions. For task 2 Praxis has access to micro level data for Estonia. Praxis would participate in all the tasks of Social support and long-term care.

Short profile of all personnel and previous relevant experience

Reelika Leetmaa has MSc degree in economics from the University of Southern Denmark and is continuing her PhD studies in economics in the University of Tartu. Her research focus is on evaluation of the impact of labour market policy, in particular that of active labour market policy. Reelika is a Director of the Labour and Social Policy Programme and Member of the Executive Board of Praxis. Since 2003 she has contributed to the work of European Employment Observatory SYSDEM network as an Estonian correspondent. Reelika is the leader of the project from Praxis’ side and contributes mainly to Extending working lives.

Andres Võrk has graduated from the University of Tartu, Estonia, with MA in economics in and continues his doctoral studies in economics. He has specialised in empirical analysis of Estonian labour market policies, social policies and labour taxation. His main task in the project is to develop models for Estonia in Pension systems, savings and financial education task 1.

Kirsti Nurmela has acquired MA in social sciences at Tallinn University and is continuing her studies at Tallinn University as a PhD student in sociology. Her research focus is on lifelong learning, in particular adult learning and issues related to participation in adult learning. Her work at Praxis has also focused on labour relations at individual as well as collective levels and on social partnership. Kirsti is an analyst of the Labour and Social Policy Programme. Since 2006 she has contributed with numerous short articles and reports as a national expert on industrial relations and working conditions to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Kirsti contributes to Extending working lives.

Liina Osila has a master’s degree in public administration from Tallinn University of Technology. Her master thesis looked at how the flexicurity concept has influenced the labour market policy of older workers. Her research interests are older workers, minorities in the labour market and flexible work organisation. Her main tasks in the project are connected to Extending working lives.

Riina Sikkut graduated with a MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing from a joint programme of LSE and LSHTM. Riina undertakes the analysis of health indicators and healthy life expectancy in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for WP4 task 1. She also contributes to WP8 tasks 1 and 3 to analyse the opinions of Estonian service users, providers, experts etc.

Gerli Paat-Ahi has an MScPH from the University of Tartu and works toward a PhD there in the Department of Medicine. Her research topic is the quality of care and she has experience with analysis of long-term care (e.g project ANCIEN). Her contribution will be to the tasks of Social support and long-term care.

Reelika Ermel has graduated from the University of Tartu, Estonia, with BA in geography and also with BA in economics. She contributes to the data collection and initial analysis of data in Pension systems, savings and financial education and Social support and long-term care.

Praxis website