This session will draw on the work of the International Network for Government Science Advice and others, in tracking the provision of scientific evidence and policy decisions in nations around the world during the Covid pandemic. It will also explore the challenges to governments and experts in assessing high impact low probability risks, such as pandemics, and responding to the nature of the uncertainty associated with considering them.
Finally, it will discuss how narrative evidence is essential as part of the pluralistic evidence base necessary to tackle any major public policy issue, and why including it will help with tackling misinformation, including misinformation about science.
Claire Craig is the Vice-President (Evidence) of INGSA, and former Director of the UK’s Government Office for Science. She is the co-author of Storylistening (2021) and author of How does government listen to scientists? (2019).