CSIL workshop on Counterfactual Impact Evaluation

Counterfactual Thinking, Complex Realities - Practical Tools for Policy Impact Evaluation. Registrations now open

How can evaluation demonstrate for whom, when, and why interventions work — moving beyond simply proving impact?
To address the complexity of real-world policy challenges, CSIL is organising a three-day workshop on Counterfactual Impact Evaluation (CIE) that brings together policy professionals, researchers, and evaluators to explore how to contribute to more nuanced, actionable, and context-sensitive evidence to support better policymaking.

Find out more about the workshop

📍Venue: NH Milano Machiavelli, Via Lazzaretto 5, 20124 Milan
(Centrally located, next to the Central Station, well connected by metro and train.)
📅Dates: 11–13 May 2026
🕓Format: 2.5 days | English | In-person event
🎓Target audience: policymakers, evaluation practitioners, researchers, and doctoral students.
👥 Maximum capacity: 30 participants.

Workshop focus

• Introduction to core CIE methods: Matching, Difference-in-Differences, Regression Discontinuity Design, Synthetic Control.
• Application to policies targeting individuals, firms, and regions.
• Mixed-methods practice: combining quantitative, qualitative, and data-intensive approaches (including machine-learning models).
• From evidence to use: making evaluation findings actionable for policy.

The programme blends methodological sessions, hands-on group activities, and a policy roundtable with experts from European and national institutions. No advanced econometric background is required; sessions are accessible and practice-oriented. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop.

Registration

All details about the workshop are now available online.

Participants can choose to attend the full three-day workshop or the final-day policy roundtable only.
An early bird fee applies until 15 January 2026.

For questions about the programme or organisation, please contact Jessica Catalano and Claudia Santoro at workshop@csilmilano.com.