Events

Objective To gain insight into ways to build trust in precision medicine. A lack of trust can be considered a risk in the development of precision medicine. To better understand such a risk several questions need to be explored: In the era of big data and precision medicine, what is trust? In contrast to trust, what is ‘trustworthiness’? And ‘confidence’? […]

This workshop will contribute a risk governance perspective to exploring the opportunities that distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) potentially bring to how transactions are recorded and services are delivered. The workshop will primarily discuss applications in the medical and insurance sectors, and for institutional governance. Objective Providing recommendations on technological and governance options: How to chose the right technology and create […]

Understanding systemic risks for developing guidelines to help organisations deal with them The one-day workshop focused on improving the understanding of systemic risks and their implications. Systemic risks arise in complex systems without equilibrium, and it is important to get an understanding of the system, its dynamics and boundaries when trying to address the corresponding risks. Complexity science and network […]

As part of an on-going workshop series and project work on cybersecurityand in line with its mission to bridge the gap between science and policy, IRGC organised a one-day expert workshop on Governing Cybersecurity Risks and Benefits in the Internet of Things, applied to connected vehicles and medical devices – Creating trust in connectivity: confidentiality, integrity and availability. With the […]

Following the Health 2030 Symposium ‘Personalized Health in the Digital Age‘, IRGC organised a 1-day invitation-only expert workshop in Geneva on the Governance of Impacts of Precision Medicine. In an open, facilitated roundtable discussion, 30 experts in the field of precision medicine, from various countries, disciplines and stakeholder groups, including research, policy, regulation, and industry convened to move forward an […]

On 18-19 October 2016, IRGC and the Institute for Advance Sustainability Studies IASS organised an invitation-only expert workshop at IASS in Potsdam on Applying, Using and Developing further IRGC Concepts and Instruments for Risk Governance. Its purpose was to facilitate a discussion among practitioners and researchers about how to implement risk governance and management in their organisations as well as […]

On 15 – 16 June 2016, the EPFL International Risk Governance Center(IRGC), in collaboration with the EPFL Transport Center(TRACE), organised an expert workshop on Risk and Opportunity Governance of Automated and Autonomous Cars. The workshop, conducted under Chatham House Rule, convened a group of participants from academia, regulatory agencies, insurance and industry to discuss various governance issues surrounding autonomous cars. […]

In October 2015, IRGC, together with main partner Marsh & McLennan Companies and with support from Swiss Re, AXA Technology Services and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), organised a workshop on cyber security risk governance. Organizations are increasingly concerned about threats to data confidentiality, integrity and availability. When data are compromised and critical infrastructure and services are impacted, the cost […]

On 10 – 11 September 2015, IRGC and the Energy Center of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) jointly organised an international public conference and expert workshop on the challenges and opportunities for demand response in the context of energy transitions. Energy transitions towards decarbonised energy systems with increasing share of intermittent renewable energy call for a paradigm shift in the power sector, in particular […]

On 28-29 August 2015, IRGC organised an exploratory workshop on governance issues associated with the collection, access and use of human genetic information for precision medicine. The workshop was organised with Tsinghua University, MIT and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). It was attended by academics and representatives from industry and regulators. Summary “highlights from the workshop” are available here The […]

IRGC Workshop on Comparing Methods for Terrorism Risk Assessment with Methods in Cyber Security The workshop brought together a group of leading researchers working on issues of terrorism risk assessment with a group of leading researchers in cyber security. The objective was to explore what the two communities can learn from each other and whether there are opportunities to avoid […]

Overview How can regulation keep up with technological development? In a rapidly evolving environment, timely response of traditional regulatory approaches to the availability of new information cannot be guaranteed, which may pose a serious impediment to innovation. This calls for flexibility in designing regulation. Flexibility and revisions in regulation, however, may also create uncertainty for investors and operators. Hence, embedding […]

(For Slides and Highlightssee below, under “Agenda”) New approaches to regulation may be stimulated by careful research and practical experience, but also spurred by crisis events that alter perceptions and spark demand for policy change.  What can we learn from these diverse sources of regulatory change? How can we do a better job in fostering constructive regulatory improvement? The conference identified, […]

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On 16 June 2014, IRGC organised a symposium on the “Governance of Emerging and Slow-Developing Catastrophic Risks.”  Presentations by IRGC Visiting Risk Fellows were followed by a panel discussion, moderated by Ortwin Renn, President of SRA International. On the governance of slow-developing catastrophic risks (SDCRs), Anjali Nursimulu discussed the challenges of identifying and taking timely actions on the basis of […]

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On 6 June 2014, IRGC organised a roundtable discussion on the governance of emerging risks. The majority of participants were practitioners in the public and private sectors. Others were from academia, with expertise in various disciplines. The objective of the roundtable was to discuss ways to help organisations better identify, evaluate, manage and communicate emerging risks. The event followed IRGC’s […]

With support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Paul Scherrer Institute and the Center for Climate and Energy Decision Making at Carnegie Mellon University jointly organised with IRGC on 18-19 November 2013 a workshop on “Small Modular Reactors”. Implications on low carbon energy and nuclear security Over the past decade, there has been growing interest in […]

5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC Davos 2014 “Integrative Risk Management – The role of science, technology & practice” 24 – 28 August 2014 | Davos, Switzerland The IDRC Davos 2014is bringing together over 1000 leading experts from government agencies, science, and the private sector including Margareta Wahlström, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Michael […]

On 24 June 2014, IRGC and EuroScience jointly organised a session at the 2014 EuroScience Science Forum (ESOF 2014). The session reviewed how evidence-based policy making and risk governance are tackled and implemented in various parts of the globe with a specific focus on the interplay between scientists, policy makers, stakeholders and the society at large, as well as government communication […]

The IRGC Secretariat and IRGC Portugal jointly organised a workshop at the TMP 2014 meeting, held on 23 – 25 June 2014 in Lisbon, on the risk governance of different economic transformations, with presentations from industry, academics and IRGC. The final programme is available here.   About TMP The Technology, Management and Policy Graduate Consortium (TMP) brings together graduate students […]

The 23rd SRA-Europe conference will be held 16-18 June 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey and hosted by Istanbul Technical University. The special theme of the conference is “Analysis and Governance of Risks beyond Boundaries” to emphasize that risks are able to travel through the virtual boundaries labeled as “regions”, “territories” and “countries”, to promote recent scientific novelties in risk reduction and to enhance […]

The UNESCO Chair in Technologies for Development hosted by the Cooperation and Development Center (CODEV) hosted the third International Conference on Technologies for Development: What is Essential? at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland on 4-6 June 2014. More information about the conference. In the context of this conference, IRGC hosted a session entitled “Developing Appropriate Contexts for Successful Deployment of Essential […]

On 8 April 2014, IRGC and the King’s College Centre for Risk Management jointly organised a panel discussion on the opportunities, challenges and risks of unconventional gas development. The session was hosted and chaired by Prof. Ragnar Löfstedt, Director of the King’s Centre for Risk Management. The event discussed the main recommendations from : IRGC: Risk governance guidelines for unconventional gas development (policy brief) […]

In December 2013 the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), based in Seoul, South Korea, hosted the 2013 STEPI International Foresight Symposium on the topic of “Future Risk and Social Resilience”, at which IRGC’s Managing Director Marie-Valentine Florin gave a well-received presentation on “Resilience Building as a Risk Governance Option”.

  This symposium was jointly organised by the EPFL Center on Risk Analysis and Governance (CRAG)and the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC). It addressed important aspects of how uncertainty is dealt with in research and practice of risk management. Downloads Conference brochure Plenary Sessions and Workshop detailed programmes(including speaker abstracts & bios) Slides Plenary Sessions Slides Workshop 2: Decision making […]

The Global Risk Network and the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Councils organized a Global Risk Forum in Berlin, 25 – 26 September 2013, “to examine corporate / market disruptors and strategic, fiduciary and regulatory imperatives to address them”. IRGC’s Managing Director Marie-Valentine Florin presented how the IRGC Contributing Factors to Risk Emergence can shape the context in which risks […]

27-28 June 2013 Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue, Zurich, Switzerland IRGC organised an expert workshop on the theme of Governance of slow-developing catastrophic risks (SDCRs), to discuss how scientists and policy makers could together improve the governance of this type of risks.  SDCRs are specific to complex, nested systems with multiple interacting feedback loops. While negative feedback contributes to stability, (net) […]

IRGC participated in the 2013 annual conference of the iNTeg-Risk programme and presented IRGC draft risk governance guidelines for unconventional gas development as well as elements for an iNTeg-Risk white paper on Integrated Emerging Risk Management.  

9 January 2013 Beijing, People’s Republic of China The conference aimed to encourage the use of methods and tools for risk governance, and the development of policies and regulations based on the principles of risk governance. This requires investing in the creation of appropriate risk cultures, for risk awareness, assessment, prevention and management, in order to avoid or reduce the […]

12 December 2012 IRGC workshop at the OECD, Paris, France IRGC invited to this workshop a small group of experts from selected countries, to discuss about “advanced” methods for all-hazards national risk assessment (“NRA”) and integrated risk management at the country level. NRAs result from elaborate processes for identifying and assessing large-scale risks which can potentially severely affect territories and population […]

11 January 2012 Beijing, People’s Republic of China Download the plenary session description and agenda here Risks accompany change, and are often accompanied by potential benefits and opportunities. Better risk governance implies enabling societies to benefit from change while minimising the negative consequences of the associated risks. The governance of global, systemic risks requires cohesion between countries and the partnering […]

Download the expert workshop description and agenda here As part of the IRGC International conference on the theme of ‘From Crisis Management to Risk Governance’, IRGC organised  jointly with Tsinghua University,  an expert workshop on National Risk Assessment and Risk Management at the Country Level. Governments have to manage a portfolio of threats of different nature that may affect their […]

Download the expert workshop description and agenda here As part of the IRGC International conference on the theme of ‘From Crisis Management to Risk Governance’, IRGC organised  jointly with Tsinghua University,  an expert workshop on Innovation and Adaptive Governance in Biotechnology Technology development strategies and risk governance policies are commonly treated as separate spheres. This workshop focues on how the location, pace and diffusion of […]

Download the expert workshop description and agenda here As part of the IRGC International conference on the theme of ‘From Crisis Management to Risk Governance’, IRGC organised  jointly with Tsinghua University,  an expert workshop on Risk Perception and Risk Culture. One doesn’t have to look very deeply into any account of individuals, organisations, or societies dealing with risks to observe […]

Download the expert workshop description and agenda here As part of the IRGC International conference on the theme of ‘From Crisis Management to Risk Governance’, IRGC organised  jointly with Tsinghua University andSwissnex China,  an expert workshop on Food Safety Governance. The overall objective of this expert workshop is to contribute science-based knowledge for improved food safety governance. It brought together […]

Download the conference brochure here On the occasion of the launch of IRGC in China, as the new Center on Risk Governance hosted at Tsinghua University, School of Public Policy and Management , IRGC organised jointly with Tsinghua University an international conference and experts workshops on the theme of ‘From Crisis Management to Risk Governance’. The conference was sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Counsellors’ […]

IRGC Portugal organised two workshops in November 2012, at the  Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Lisbon as part of a Research Workshop Series on Industrialization, Geography and Policy with the goal of understanding the risks of de-industrialization and the dynamics of technological change to build socioeconomic resilience. WORKSHOP I (8 and 9 November, 2012): REGULATE TO BUILD CAPACITY DAY 1: […]

On 5-6 November 2012, IRGC organised an expert meeting on ‘Risk Governance of Unconventional Gas Development’, held at the SwissRe Centre for Global Dialogue in Zurich, Switzerland. Under the guidance of Dr. John D. Graham, Member of IRGC’ Scientific and Technical Council and Dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, and with support from experts […]

IRGC organised an expert workshop on 17th and 18th of September 2012, in Lausanne, inviting authors of case studies, representatives from governments, as well as a few external experts, to discuss on possible guidelines for how to improve risk management of emerging issues by governments and public sector agencies.  Background The overall expectation from government representatives participating in this project is […]

27-30 August 2012, Davos, Switzerland IRGC organised a session on ‘Mobilising the creation of a risk governance culture’ at the International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC Davos on 27-30 August 2012. In 2013, IRGC considers to do work, in cooperation with its regional network partners, to better understand and develop appropriate cultures for risk governance, relying on substantive and empirical regional analysis of the […]

18-20 July 2012, Sydney, Australia — IRGC organised a symposium session on “Risk emergence and emerging risks” at the SRA World Congress on 18-20 July 2012 in Syney, Australia.  Along with its network partners, it presented both an overview of and some insight on the issues related to emerging risk management and on contributing factors to risk emergence Symposium speakers […]

Jointly with OECD, IRGC organised a workshop on ‘Crisis Communication: opportunities and challenges of social media’, on 29 June 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland. Background The workshop explored how governments can use, influence, and shape social media and social networking for effective and reliable two-way communication in times of crisis. It is both about how social media shape modern communications and […]

Date: 18-20 June 2012, Zürich, Switzerland — IRGC, represented by Dr Len Fisher, University of Bristol, presented on ‘The Governance of Slow-Developing Catastrophic Risks’ at the SRA-Europe 21st Annual Conference, held in Zurich on 18-20 June 2012. Len Fisher is the main author of the forthcoming IRGC concept note on Slow-Developing Catastrophic Risks.   Download the event brochure

Date: 6-8 May 2012, Stuttgart, Germany — IRGC presented at the 4th iNTeg-Risk Conference  “Managing Early Warnings – what and how to look for?”, about “Elements for an iNTeg-Risk White Paper on Integrated Management of Emerging Risks”

Date: 29 March 2012, London, UK — As part of Planet Under Pressure, IRGC presented “Risk governance of slow-developing, catastrophic risks”, exploring the obstacles to effective management of slow-developing risks and suggesting what can be done to overcome these challenges.

November 3, 2011 EPFL, Rolex Learning Center, Lausanne, Switzerland — Public Conference – LEARNING FROM LARGE-SCALE INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS WHEN DISASTERS CAN BE OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVING SAFETY AND RISK GOVERNANCE IRGC  held a public conference co-organised with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) It appears from the March 2011 Fukushima Dai-Ichi accident in Japan and based on the many indirect […]

Roundtable 2 – How can we improve the provision of more consistent science and technology advice in support of risk governance and sustainable innovation? Managing the crucial relationship between technological innovation, risk governance and public acceptability Today’s risk governance in fields related to or involving science and technology requires: Enabling of scientific and technological developments, for the benefits that they […]

Roundtable 1– How can we improve the anticipation of and early response to emerging risks? One of IRGC’s missions is to help organisations in the public or private sectors to improve their anticipation of emerging risks. In a context of globalisation and systemic risks, this proves to be a challenge to many. IRGC’s assumption is that new or emerging risks […]

In collaboration with the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, in Venice, IRGC held a workshop on‘Slow moving risks with potentially catastrophic consequences.’ Over the course of 3 days, IRGC convened a small group of scientists and policymakers to explore the topic of how to avoid the catastrophic consequences of those risks that develop slowly and are thus often […]

24-25 November, 2010 Abu Dhabi, UAE Third Governmental Forum on Risk Governance, 24-25 November 2010, was held in partnership with the International Futures Programme, OECD, and was hosted by the Prince Court of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. This IRGC Governmental Forum is now integrated in the OECD High-Level Risk Forum.

IRGC held a workshop on ‘The Governance of Knowledge’ to explore the risk governance implications of current practices related to how knowledge is managed and to determine the potential need for IRGC project work on this issue. Download the workshop report [PDF]

Given the significance of Stakeholder Engagement for appropriate Risk Governance, IRGC held a workshop where members of IRGC’s Scientific and Technical Council and invited experts discussed various aspects of stakeholder engagement, with a view to deciding whether IRGC could add value to this field. Download the workshop report [PDF]

30 November – 1 December, 2009 Geneva, Switzerland Along with the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue, IRGC co-organised the Second Governmental Forum on Risk Governance.

The main aim of this workshop was for IRGC to engage in a loosely structured conversation on the topic, with a view to deciding whether or not to embark on project work on how to approach crisis management and foster a deepened understanding of, and strategies to deal with, unconventional crises. Download the workshop report [PDF]

Building on IRGC’s work on the risk governance of individual innovative technologies, IRGC’s Scientific and Technical Council (S&TC) along with 17 – mainly US-based – experts gathered for a full-day workshop to engage in a broad discussion on how regulation can enable and/or constrain technological innovation. Download the workshop report [PDF]

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