This presentation will describe an almost-completed book to help policy developers and researchers working on complex real world problems find appropriate modellers. Diverse modelling techniques are illustrated by case studies where the technique has been used in a policy relevant setting (predominantly issues concerning environment, population health, or policing and security) and assessed on two key questions.

The first question examines whether the problem characteristics match the technique assumptions, including whether qualitative information is important, entities being modelled are interdependent and if there are interactions with the environment. The second key question relates the modelling technique to three key issues for policy development: knowledge synthesis, management of unknowns, and direct policy support such as capacity to compare options.