Current Trends in Risk Communication:

The large and growing area of risk communication research and practice has sprung from the need of a better understanding of what information people actually require and want in circumstances of danger, crisis or catastrophe. The studies often deal with the prevention, as well as the evaluation of the aftermath, of such events. Risk communication is linked to risk perception research in that it is necessary to know how, when and why people perceive risk, and to the area of crisis communication in relation to risk management, priority setting and policy at various levels during crises, as well as in relation to providing support to research and practices that deal with search and rescue operations, and the care of victims. In addition, the risk communication field has strong connections to studies of the media and of organisational information providing and processing. These links have practical as well as theoretical relevance to the field of risk communication since media contents are spread quickly and widely, and because various information strategies provide a basis for subsequent events. The recent availability of new technology for private use, e.g. cellular phones, other communication devices, and the interchange of information through the Internet, should also be included in considerations of the current state-ofthe-art of risk communication. The presentation will highlight theoretical perspectives and implications of risk communication studies and relate the findings to the different levels of action or influence, e.g. local, national and global. It will distinguish between a) manifest accidents and catastrophes, b) events with potentially harmful or catastrophic effects, and c) harmful effects that belong to the area of “normal accidents”. Furthermore, d) harmful and catastrophic events due to intended harm, and e) developments undermining or erasing the positive valuation of safety and safety standards. Differences between risk information and risk communication will be noted, as well as differences between risk and uncertainty. The currently practised method of inviting a broad range of representatives and interested parties into a preparatory phase of a decision making process, e.g. the “stakeholder” or “public participation” processes, will be discussed. Such processes are seen as methods to highlight and discuss hazards and risks in a framework that strives for preventing and controlling such events. It is concluded that these processes might in fact contribute to the robustness of democratic societies in that they provide tools to come to grips with a society that tend to produce increasing uncertainty due to ever more interactions and dependencies between already vulnerable systems, and between central actors.