Effective risk governance for environmental policy making: A knowledge management perspective

Abstract

11Effective risk management within environmental policy making requires knowledge on 12 natural, economic and social systems to be integrated; knowledge characterised by 13 complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. We describe a case study in a (UK) central 14 government department exploring how risk governance supports and hinders this challenging 15 integration of knowledge. Forty-five semi-structured interviews were completed over a two 16 year period. We found that lateral knowledge transfer between teams working on different 17 policy areas was widely viewed as a key source of knowledge. However, the process of 18 lateral knowledge transfer was predominantly informal and unsupported by risk governance 19 structures. We argue this made decision quality vulnerable to a loss of knowledge through 20 staff turnover, and time and resource pressures. Our conclusion is that the predominant form 21 of risk governance framework, with its focus on centralised decision-making and vertical 22 knowledge transfer is insufficient to support risk-based, environmental policy making. We 23 discuss how risk governance can better support environmental policy makers through 24 systematic knowledge management practices. 25 26

Tsunami awareness in Korea, Indonesia, and the United States

“…In short, policy making on tsunami awareness may be considered as a whole system approach (Heslin and Ryan, 2004, pp. 3-5;Mauelshagen et al, 2014). Further, the field of tsunami awareness should elaborate on policy implementation as well.…”

Research on the Innovation Elements In the Process of Technology Innovation

“…At the same time, the new model is constantly generated and transformed into a new form. The process of innovation is the process of the integration of key elements of, construction of network and structuring [14].…”

Starting Point on the Development of Environemental Risk Management Compe-tences: experiential learning

“…Los efectos negativos del desarrollo económico sobre el medio ambiente vienen teniéndose en cuenta desde hace años, sin embargo, no ha sido hasta la década de los ochenta, cuando nuestras sociedades y sus gobiernos, han empezado a reaccionar, con la incorporación de unas medidas tendentes a un entendimiento equilibrado entre el medio ambiente y los procesos derivados de la actuación humana, integrando el factor medioambiental dentro de un Sistema de Gestión Empresarial, y considerándolo como un aspecto de importancia decisiva y una auténtica ventaja competitiva frente a sus iguales (Calduch, 2001, Mauelshagen, 2014. La identificación de los aspectos medioambientales y la evaluación de los efectos asociados a una actividad empresarial o industrial, es fundamental para conocer el impacto medioambiental que generan las actividades, productos o servicios, y poder establecer unos objetivos y metas medioambientales.…”

“…Conocimiento caracterizado por su complejidad, incertidumbre y ambigüedad. Mauelshagen et al (2014) señalan que es importante permitir la colaboración entre diferentes estructuras para mejorar las políticas y la capacidad de gestionar el medio ambiente.…”