The World Congress on Risk III is an international conference gathering risk analysts and practitioners from around the world in Sydney Australia from 18-20 July 2012. This is the third in a series of World Congresses that are systematic, important steps toward development of the field of risk analysis, related applications and a worldwide network of researchers, community stakeholders, and decision makers. The theme for the 2012 World Congress is "Risk and Development in a Changing World". Specific objectives of the 2012 Congress are to (1) stimulate dialogue and learning on risk issues of worldwide interest, (2) share insights about analytic methods and decision processes used in different regions of the world, (3) demonstrate and disseminate advances in risk assessment and management, and (4) build bridges between professional organizations and individuals worldwide to facilitate education and to transfer science-based risk management practices across key user networks. NSF support is for helping junior scholars from the United States and scholars from developing countries attend the Congress.
Risk assessment and management is a field of research that provides science-based concepts, tools, and processes (derived from both research and practice) that decision makers, researchers, and community stakeholders can use in public and private decision making about risk. The use of sound risk analysis methods is crucial for intelligent choices about human health and livelihood, environmental systems, prosperity, sustainability, and survival. Developing countries face urgent challenges and are particularly in need of stronger capacity to employ good risk analysis methods. The theme for the third conference focuses attention on risks of importance to developing countries, in such domains as agriculture, food safety, technology, water pollution and supply, air pollution, energy and climate change, and disaster risk reduction.
2012 World Congress on Risk Risks to public health, safety, environment and security are widespread. Around the world, people need the best tools to understand and manage such risks. To meet this need, in 2003 the international Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) launched a series of "World Congresses on Risk." With the support of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the SRA held the first World Congress on Risk in Brussels, Belgium, in 2003, and the second in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2008. SRA continued to spread knowledge and expand the international community of risk analysts – again with support from NSF – by holding the third in the series in Sydney, Australia, on July 18-20, 2012. The theme of the 2012 World Congress on Risk was "Risk and Development in a Changing World," which highlighted the need for the best tools in science, decision making, communication and governance, in both developing countries and industrialized countries. The specific objectives of the 2012 World Congress on Risk were to (1) stimulate dialogue and learning on risk issues of worldwide interest; (2) share insights about methods of analysis and decision making used in different countries; (3) demonstrate and disseminate advances in approaches to risk assessment and management; and (4) build bridges worldwide to facilitate education and spread science-based risk management practices among key actors. These objectives were achieved through the conference program and structure, which engaged the participation of experts from all around the world, all career stages, and all sectors of employment (government, business, academia, nonprofit organizations, and others). The development and use of sound risk analysis methods is crucial for intelligent choices in all countries about human health and livelihood, environmental systems, prosperity, sustainability and survival. In particular, developing countries face urgent challenges, which will have major impacts on their growing populations as well as on the United States and the world, and hence are particularly in need of stronger capacity to employ good risk analysis methods. The 2012 World Congress included three plenary sessions, several break-out sessions, and numerous symposia sessions. Nearly 400 attendees came from more than 44 locations around the world, including Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Honduras, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam. Funds from NSF were specifically targeted to support the participation of experts from developing countries, and those in the early stages of their careers. In a survey of World Congress participants, compiled by the SRA after the event, over 70 percent of the respondents rated the event as "Very Good" or "Excellent." The Congress featured three plenary sessions (attended by all participants), one on each day of the conference: • "Extreme Risks: Shocks & Disasters," with speakers Dr. Pierre-Alain Schieb (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, Paris) and Dr. David Zhang (University of Hong Kong) • "Synthetic Genomics, Risk and Governance" – sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation – with speakers Dr. Michele Garfinkel (European Molecular Biology Organization) and Dr. Robert Friedman (J. Craig Venter Institute) • "Global Public Health," with speakers Dr. Antoine Flahault (dean of the French School of Public Health, EHESP) and Dr. Raina MacIntyre (head of the School of Public Health, University of New South Wales, Australia) The 2012 World Congress on Risk also offered in-depth breakout sessions on several key topics – for example, lessons from the 2011 tsunami and nuclear accident in Japan; assessing the risks of climate change; and policy options for synthetic biology. And the 2012 World Congress included a wide variety of symposia sessions on diverse topics including chemicals, natural disasters, food safety, air pollution, water pollution, energy and climate change, financial risk, infectious and chronic diseases, homeland security, cybersecurity, global catastrophic risk, and many others. The conference addressed risk management at the global, regional, national and community scales, and it engaged experts on risk analysis from diverse disciplines including public health, environment, agriculture, engineering, economics, communication, law, public policy, and beyond. The 2012 World Congress on Risk achieved several key results: It shared advances in risk analysis among nearly 400 participants from over 40 countries to help promote sound decision making regarding major risks to public health, safety, welfare, prosperity and security. It improved understanding of the best ways to assess and manage important risks, such as terrorism, synthetic biology, air pollution, food safety, climate change, and cybersecurity. It helped experts develop and spread better criteria and tools for evaluating the impacts of public policies, and of publicly funded research. The SRA deeply appreciates the leadership of NSF in supporting the 2012 World Congress on Risk.
