In recent years there has been a great deal of discussion on the potential for a shift away from modernistic or technocratic approaches to decisionmaking on risk towards more open, inclusive, and deliberative approaches. The authors consider (a) the reasons why some companies have taken the first step in this transition by exploring the potential of more open and communicative approaches to environmental risk management, and (b) the effects that opening up can have, particularly on perceived levels of trust between corporations and stakeholders on matters relating to environmental risk. For the companies surveyed, the nature of their activities, the significance of formative events, and the failure of more traditional forms of risk communication to reduce conflict and to build trust amongst stakeholders have impelled them to experiment with new approaches to risk communication. It is found that, in the short term, such experiments are seen by managers to have had mixed effects: in contexts where trust had already been lost, open engagement can lead to an initial deterioration in relations between companies and stakeholders. However, it is also argued that in the longer term trust can be built through such open engagements. It is suggested, therefore, that opening up and engaging on matters relating to environmental risk may lead to a 'j-curve effect', with an initial deterioration in levels of trust being followed by a gradual improvement in levels of credibility and shared understanding over time.

This article focuses on practical experience feedback. Results from two interview studies are reported. In the first, experience feedback in different sectors in Sweden was investigated through interviews with 21 Swedish authorities involved in accident prevention. A result from this investigation was that the participating authorities in practice have a functioning experience feedback despite lack of systematic routines and methods. Yet, only four of the 21 participating authorities work with the whole experience feedback process. These four authorities have one common denominator; they have an experience feedback that is turning more inwards than outwards. All of the participating authorities have a need to improve and systematize the dissemination of experiences, knowledge and results. An improved dissemination can in fact affect other procedures such as the reporting of occurred accidents. Focus in this second study was on practical communication procedures, and how the authorities communicate results, knowledge and experiences within their own organisations, with other authorities, and with external parties. It is concluded that a more proactive approach would be valuable for the learning process.

This chapter addresses the competing interests of privacy versus public access to information. The chapter explores the collective and individual value of privacy and public access in a manner that considers information at the macrosocial and macroethical level. By using Sweden as a case study, we exemplify the classic and irresolvable tension between issues of information availability and confidentiality, integrity, and privacy. Given that privacy and public access interests will constantly need to be rebalanced, we present the views of government officials due to their unique role in implementing this balance. We conclude with an analysis of the reasonableness of this conduct.

It is commonly believed that people become selfish and turn to looting, price gouging, and other immoral behaviour in emergencies. This has been the basis for an argument justifying extraordinary measures in emergencies. It states that if emergencies are not curtailed, breakdown of moral norms threaten ('the moral black hole'). Using the example of natural disasters, we argue that the validity of this argument in non-antagonistic situations, i.e. situations other than war and armed conflict, is highly questionable. Available evidence suggests that people in such emergencies typically do not display panic reactions or exaggerated selfishness, and that phenomena such as looting and price gouging are rare. Furthermore, a version of the moral-black-hole argument based on the mere possibility of a moral black hole occurring runs into problems similar to those of Pascal's Wager. We conclude that we should be wary against applying the moral-black-hole argument to non-antagonistic cases.

Chemicals in the occupational setting are well known to pose a variety of health risks to workers, and are accordingly subject to risk management measures. In Sweden, as well as many other countries, occupational exposure limits (OELs) are presented as an important tool for managing chemical risks. However, measurements to ensure compliance with OELs have decreased significantly and the question is to what extent the OELs still perform their function, and through which mechanisms. By performing interviews at a number of different workplaces in Sweden, that handle chemicals, we will try to identify regulatory, social and organizational factors that influence the risk perception and communication at workplaces and also investigate the role played by OELs in these processes. Previous research on risk management at the workplace has often been focused on physical risks or accident prevention. We believe that the management, communication and perception of chemical risks differ significantly in their nature from most physical risks, since exposures to harmful chemicals generally lead to delayed and unpredictable effects and individuals tend to estimate risks with delayed effects lower than if the consequences are immediate.

In Sweden, as in other industrialised nations, occupational exposure limits are considered to be an important tool for chemical risk management, although many other factors also play a role in occupational safety and health management. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of occupational exposure limits in relation to information about, and the risk perception of, chemicals. An interview study was performed at four Swedish process industry workplaces in order to investigate these issues. For each workplace, the range of informants covered at least one person who spent most of their working time in the production process; one person in a managerial position; one person in the site health, safety and environment department; the main safety ombudsman; and the site manager. The results show that informants' understanding of occupational exposure limits and their use is quite poor, although they do understand that there is epistemic uncertainty in determining the toxicological effects of hazardous substances. The risk perception and safety behaviour of the informants were not affected by the occupational exposure limits, nor did occupational exposure limits have any role as sources of information. Nevertheless, almost all the informants expressed the view that occupational exposure limits are trusted and needed; safety engineers and main safety ombudsmen, generally, also added that occupational exposure limits are useful. What was found to be most important factor for the informants' perception of risk and safety was trust in specific people, often established through long-term relationships.

Social trust has often been claimed to be an important determinant of perceived risk, a finding that, if true, has important consequences for risk communication. However, the empirical basis of the alleged relationship between social trust and risk perception is weak. Previous work has pointed to other facets of trust as being more important: trust in science and technology per se (epistemic trust) as well as belief in the existence of opposed interests and goals (antagonism). In the present paper, these notions are further developed and empirically tested on data on trust (social and epistemic), risk perception, attitudes, voting intentions, trust and antagonism in siting a local high-level nuclear waste repository. Data were obtained in the spring of 2005 from two Swedish municipalities where site investigations were being carried out in preparation for building a repository for spent nuclear fuel. It was found that social trust had less weight in perceived risk than epistemic trust and perceived antagonism. Similar results were obtained when the dependent variables were attitude to the repository, and intention to vote pro or con a local repository in a future local referendum on the issue. Implications of the findings for risk communication are discussed.

The aim of this study is to investigate public perceptions of three potentially privacy-invasive technologies relevant to daily mobility – video surveillance (CCTV), positioning via mobile phone, and radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags – via contrasting scenarios and items measuring factors such as acceptance and desirability.  The effect of parenthood on perceptions is also explored and proves to generally shift attitudes in a more favorable direction, i.e. parents perceive higher positive effects and lower negative effects of a technology.  Parenthood also proves to affect males and females differently, where female non-parents often perceive technological applications less favorably than do other groups by having heightened risk perception, lower trust, lower acceptance, etc.  For the aggregate respondent group, the analysis indicates that technologies targeting the “crowd” versus the “individual”, and technologies associated with a non-commercial actor can be linked to a trend of relatively greater acceptability, although this does not necessarily lead to high ratings of trust for these data collectors in the absolute sense.  Also, the least favorably perceived scenario does not elicit particularly high ratings of worry or offense.  These results, combined with a lack of willingness to discuss with influential parties (elected representatives or relevant authorities or companies) and a lack of willingness to search for information about a technology regardless of ratings of acceptance or privacy-invasiveness, lead the authors to submit that the respondents feel a sense of resignation towards technological development.  This may have broad implications for decision-making and democratic processes, as perceived lack of influence and perceived lack of interest in participation feed back into each other, which may further divide laypersons from experts, companies, and authorities.

The aim of this study is to investigate the situation of professional Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) drivers in the mobile workplace; in particular the drivers’ perceptions of privacy regarding the positioning services in their vehicles in contrast to the perceptions of their employers (road haulage companies).  Although mobile technologies are increasingly blurring the distinctions between places of work and non-work, most research on workplace privacy has focused on the traditional office setting.  The empirical interview results indicate that most respondents are pro-technology and trust the employer to protect driver privacy and HGV data.  However, the results also reveal significant gaps in knowledge about what HGV data is collected, in communication between employers and employees regarding data gathering and handling practices, and in expected versus actual behavior modification as a result of workplace monitoring.  The employers are perceived as the greatest beneficiaries of the in-vehicle positioning systems and services, which could be linked to the systematic lack of feedback to the drivers.  As employees are not normally able to provide informed consent due to their dependent position, recommendations for organizations include performing comprehensive impact assessments, engaging in an ongoing dialogue with employees, and providing an opt-out option in order to move towards a more informed consent.

Vad Sveriges konsumenter verkligen gjorde med anledning av finanskrisen hösten 2008 beskrivs i en rapport av två forskare från Kungliga Tekniska högskolan i Stockholm. Här får vi veta att 16,8 procent av de tillfrågade valde att vidta någon som helst åtgärd med anledning av krisen. Inom denna grupp dominerar handlingar som avser att säkra de egna investeringarna. Endast ett fåtal har uppfattat att hela eller delar av det finansiella systemet var hotat och agerat därefter genom att till exempel ta ut alla sina besparingar eller helt byta bank.

This study goes beyond attitudes and behavioral indications as response to risk perceptions and focuses on actual behavior of laypeople. We report the results from a survey, conducted among a sample of Swedish citizens in the spring of 2009, looking at lay actions as responses to the financial crisis of 2008. In total, 3138 respondents were asked whether they had done something to protect their money during the recent financial crisis or not. The total sample, 1053 respondents, was divided into two comparable groups and a binary logistic regression tested a model with nine factors hypothesized to be predicting the choice to act or not as a response to the financial crisis. Among the eight factors predicting likelihood to act were gender, age, education, ethnicity, possession of assets affected of the financial crisis, worrying about the everyday household finances, the perception of others' actions, and importance put on being knowledgeable and up-dated about financial matters. The ninth factor-respondents' perception of the crisis to be a greater threat to the U.S. and global economy than to their own personal finances-did not contribute significantly to the model.A second aim of the study was to determine whether any individuals acted rashly and, if so, whether this group differed in any statistically significant way from the group of individuals that acted in a more financially circumspectly manner. In the group of individuals that acted rashly there is a higher propensity of: individuals who do not think they have assets affected by the crisis: individuals who have a lower level of education; and individuals who consider it important to be knowledgeable and up-to-date about financial matters. It should be of interest to policymakers and researchers to further explore features of this group of laypeople because it is the most important target group for consumer information and protection.

This article focuses on how different events that cause a crisis are perceived by communication officers. The aim of this paper is to investigate how the attribution of whatever has caused a crisis affects how the crisis is perceived and how this in turn affects communication efforts. Previous research indicates that people will respond differently to risks depending on the cause of the risk, even though the consequence is the same. If individuals react to a crisis differently depending on what caused it, is that also true for crisis professionals and if so, does this influence the planning and execution of crisis communication? This article presents the results from an empirical investigation of crisis communicators in Sweden. The results reveal that there are differences within this group of professionals when they are presented with crises due to different causes. The possible implications this might have for crisis communication are discussed.

This article reports on how professionals at municipal level responsible for crisis communication (N=152) in Sweden judge the probability of 10 different responses occurring among the public, among people within their own emergency organization and themselves in case of a crisis. The direct physical effects of the crisis were kept identical throughout the study, but the cause of the crisis varied over three scenarios: accidental, terrorist and unknown. The results show that there are differences between how the respondents judge the reactions of themselves, their peers and the public, and there are also differences in the three crisis presented. The respondents judged their own reactions to be more logical and rational, and less marked by fear, panic and irrationality compared with the other two groups in all three crises. Also, it was investigated what source of information the crisis communicators thought would be used most by the public. The perceived sources of information varied depending on the cause of the crisis. The merit of these assumptions and implications for crisis communication are discussed.

This thesis focuses on the process of communication of environmental risks. A basic assumption in this thesis is that even though ambitious risk communication efforts can take place, the intended recipients are left with a feeling of alienation: Talking to me? The thesis presents a review of theories developed in the field of risk communication research and theories concerning risk perception. Results in this thesis are based on the findings in four papers. The first two papers report results from traditional risk communication strategies that have taken place in Sweden in accordance with the Seveso II Directive. The third paper looks at how industry and organizations view participatory strategies that include stakeholders in risk debates. The fourth paper attempts to fuse together placeidentity and risk perception in order to broaden the understanding of environmental conflicts.

The main results of this thesis can be summarized under three headings. First that there is no homogenous public in a risk communication context. Instead there seems to be a number of publics that differ in risk perception or have different environmental concerns. Second, strategies that tend to incorporate parts of the concerned public or stakeholders seem to work better than traditional risk communication efforts. Third, if discussion about risk are to be fruitful, the concept of risk needs to be broadened to include concerns that are not directly or apparently linked to issues of health or safety. Instead concerns such as local culture or local attachment need to be included. The purpose of this thesis is to suggest methods for communicating about environmental risks in order to make the affected public feel: Yes, you are talking to me.

In the last few years, debates over proposed usage of land for high-risk ventures have caused some debate, both in the affected communities as well as among policy makers. It has been recognized by industry and government agencies that the opinion and concerns of the local population has to be considered in order to mediate or reduce conflicts. Usually these concerns tend to focus on issues of health and safety in relation to the risk presented by different projects. It is suggested in this paper that the discussion needs to be expanded, especially if the proposed project can alter the esthetic appearance of the landscape. It is argued in this paper that the local attachment to a specific geographical place, also referred to as place-identity, needs to be included in discussions concerning industrial risks. Research in environmental psychology has suggested that place-identity is vital to a person's identity and that. this can be seen through four principles. In this paper, suggestions are made on how these four aspects of identity can be affected in a negative way if changes are made to a landscape by the introduction of a high-risk and stigmatized industrial venture.

Human behavior impacts the environment we live in. In order to better understand how one group, boat owners, in three Nordic countries adjacent to the Baltic Sea; Sweden, Finland and Denmark, viewed the relationship between the marine environment, leisure boats and issues of responsibility, a survey study was conducted (n = 1701). The results show that there are differences between gender in many areas and those women in general are more environmentally friendly than men in their views and behavior. Men and women seek information about boating by different channels and this knowledge may be used in future information campaigns. Both men and women ranked boat owners as having the lowest impact on the marine environment and perceived these to be responsible for addressing environmental issues caused by leisure boat activities. The results also show that it is important to prove the effectiveness of an environmentally safe product since this factor is ranked higher than price when considering buying a product. The results suggest that once environmentally friendly behavior is established, such as recycling, this behavior continues. One implication of this study is that small changes in human behavior are seen as acceptable but larger commitments are more difficult to achieve. If individuals do not feel responsible for causing environmental damage, this aspect needs to be addressed in information aimed at this group. Novel approaches on framing the information and new ways of disseminating information are needed.

In this article, the success of a risk communication programme conducted in two municipalities in Sweden is evaluated. The communication efforts were initiated in order to comply with the Seveso II Directive, passed as a national law in July 1999. Data from two different questionnaires are used. Between the distribution of the two questionnaires, an information campaign took place in the communities. The first questionnaire was aimed at measuring the public's opinion and understanding of the risks related to chemical industries in their communities, as well as the public's knowledge of emergency behaviour in the event of an accident. The second was aimed at measuring the effects or impact of the risk communication programme on the public. A total of 346 respondents participated in the study by answering two questionnaires. An evaluation of the risk communication efforts was focused around three dimensions: comprehension, audience evaluation and communication failures. The results showed differences between the two campaigns that gave significantly different results in the two communities. In the community with the multimedia channel campaign, the respondents showed greater knowledge of the production process at the local industry, they also judged the health threats for that industry to be less after the campaign, and they saved the information material to a greater extent. However, the overall effects of the information campaigns were weak. Future research is needed to explore the relation between people's emergency behaviour and risk communication.

The identification and remediation of contaminated sites in Europe is a continuous undertaking that includes different aspects. There are many variables to take into consideration such as the nature of the contaminants, the risks they pose, the location of the site and possible future usages. Also, possible negative effects on the local residents or the environment have to be considered. Within this context, it is necessary to establish a communication between different actors, such as industry, authorities and municipalities, as well as with the surrounding public. This can be done in a variety of ways, where some are more useful and constructive than others. In the present study, eight different construction companies and municipalities were interviewed in order to elicit their views on and experiences of risk communication. The results show that even though most actors were seriously committed to involve and respond to the local populations' concerns and fears, there is certainly room for improvement in many areas. Concluding remarks call for an increased exchange of experiences with all actors involved in risk research and to develop better official guidelines for communicating risks that are specific for contaminated soil.

In 2005 the Swedish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry (LIF) initiated a national environmental classification and information system for pharmaceuticals. This investigation reports the results from a survey, conducted among the persons involved in the start-up process. The aim of this study is to generate knowledge contributing to the clarification of the motivations, expectations, and intentions underlying the development and implementation of the system. The decision to implement a classification and information system for pharmaceuticals was the result of a combination of several driving forces, mainly political pressure and a possibility to increase the industries' goodwill, while at the same time keeping the process under the industries' control. The expected possible effects of the system, other than increased goodwill, are according to this survey assumed to be low. The system offers little guidance for end-users in the substitution of one pharmaceutical for another. One possible reason for this could be that LIF needs to observe the interests of all its members' and should not affect competition. The affiliation of the involved actors correlates to how these actors view and value the system, but this has not hampered the collaborative process to develop and implement it.