The concept of a knowledge-based approach to policy making (also referred to as `evidence-based policy making' or `science meets policy') has been around for 10 years, and is widely `signed up to' by Governments. This paper examines the theory and the practice at national government (using the UK as a case study) and European levels, looking at how the knowledge-based approach has been applied in waste and resources management. There is general agreement that a knowledge-(or evidence-) based approach to policy making is a `good thing'; however putting the concept into practice has proven challenging and is still evolving. The linkages between researchers and policy makers need to be further strengthened, as does the `demand' for evidence from policy; requiring policy specialists to articulate their requirements for evidence sufficiently well in advance, and to do so routinely, is still an area of weakness. Using a model developed by the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), we examine in detail some of the implications of changing the question from `is this good research on waste and resources issues?' to `is this good evidence for waste and resources policy?'. The paper also provides recommendations for further work required to achieve this at a European level, and for priority areas where international co-ordination of waste and resources research could add most value to policy.
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