Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting 2021 Roundtable

On December 8, 2021, the Society for Risk Analysis hosted the online Roundtable “Reconciling Science, Innovation and Precaution through the Engagement of Stakeholders” at their Annual Meeting “Risk Science and the Policy Interface”. The roundtable convened and facilitated by Dr. Pia-Johanna Schweizer (IASS) discussed interdisciplinary perspectives on the precautionary principle, presenting RECIPES project results, lessons learnt, as well as next steps.

Prof. Kristel de Smedt (Maastricht University) presented insights from the legal analysis of the precautionary principle’s application in the EU. Dr. Fritz-Julius Grafe (University of Zurich) offered results from the case study on "Financial risks in water infrastructure planning" that aimed to understand the complexities and controversies around the application of the precautionary principle in the context of urban wastewater infrastructure provision in Milan and London. Tijs Sikma MA (Rathenau Instituut) gave an overview of key results from the case study comparison, followed by Prof. Jeroen P. van der Sluijs (University of Bergen) who provided reasons why risk assessment should be informed by the precautionary principle. Dr. Marion Dreyer (DIALOGIK) discussed the role of co-creative, transdisciplinary approaches towards developing guidance for the future application of the precautionary principle.

The roundtable concluded with remarks by Prof. Ortwin Renn (IASS) who provided a framework for dealing with risk-risk tradeoffs and Prof. Jonathan B. Wiener (Duke University) who stressed the need for adaptive learning in regulatory systems in a multi-risk world.

Read the abstract HERE.