The best policy-making often comes out of crises, when different disciplines must work together to find solutions

The last decade has seen the rise of evidence-based policy making across government, and while such a model can be effective, it leads to some disciplines being consulted more closely than others. Using the response to various animal disease outbreaks over the past 20 years as examples, Katy Wilkinson argues that times of crisis can often be good for policy making, as experts from many disciplines are consulted on the basis of need, rather than through their traditional roles in the policy-making process.