The roles of computer models in the environmental policy life cycle

In this article, we identify four typical roles played by computer models in environmental policy-making, and explore the relationship of these roles to different stages of policy development over time. The four different roles are: models as eye-openers, models as arguments in dissent, models as vehicles in creating consensus and models for management. A general environmental policy life cycle is used to assess the different roles models play in the policy process. The relationship between the roles of models and the different stages of the policy life cycle is explored with a selection of published accounts of computer models and their use in environmental policy-making.