Science council urges better use of evidence in policymaking

Evidence should be given “top priority” by Dutch government, say conference speakers

The Dutch government must urgently improve the way it translates knowledge into policy, with little progress having been made on this in recent years, according to speakers at a science event.

The AWTI, a government advisory body on science, technology and innovation, held an online symposium on evidence-based policymaking on 17 June. The conference heard how, in 2005, the AWTI had issued a report warning that a lack of evidence in politics meant governments ran the risk of making inadequate policies, failing in the face of crises or being ill prepared for the future.