English Abstract Between 1995 and 1997, a series of five workshops,
henceforth called the Delft process, took place with the aim to explore and
enhance use of the IMAGE 2 model to support international climate
negotiations. The IMAGE 2 model is a multi-disciplinary, integrated model
designed to simulate the dynamics of the global society-biosphere-climate
system. The workshops facilitated a dialogue between policy makers and
scientists involved in the development and applications of the IMAGE 2
model. In this way, policy makers would benefit from the policy makers on
how to improve the policy relevance of the IMAGE 2 model. Participants
evaluation at the end of the workshop series showed that participants have
used information from the workshop at international negotiation conferences
and in preparation of policy documents. The process shows that creating a
forum for direct science-policy interactions can be both very useful and
productive, and have confirmed the importance of creating an open and
consrtuctive atmosphere between policy makers, and between policy makers and
analysts, to enhance utilisation of scientific knowledge. Our analysis also
suggests that many factors have to be 'in the right position at the right
time and place' to achieve such a success, and that it is difficult to
prevent the occurrence of biases in processes like this.With respect to
modelling, the process has shown the usefulness of simple flexible tools as
an interface between policy makers and the scientific community. At the
same time, the Delft process confirms the importance of having more thorough
and complex models to provide a credible knowledge basis. Linking the
development of these types of tools , therefore, seems to be a fruitful way
to enhance the supportive role modelling in policy
development.