The 2019 SRA-Benelux Conference focuses on the theme: “Reasoning with Uncertainty.” Experts, practitioners and policy makers often have to make decisions under conditions of uncertainty. This sometimes leads to catastrophic outcomes, but often also results in averted disasters, innovation and unexpected discoveries. This conference, is devoted to how risk research(ers) can better inform decision-making in the face of uncertainty, anticipate negative outcomes, increase the propensity for positive outcomes, and better communicate uncertainty.
SRA-Benelux invites contributions that reflect on the conceptual and practical dimensions of uncertainty; uncertainty issues that have been neglected; new and innovative approaches to understanding and dealing with uncertainty; how policy makers, industry decision-makers, and practitioners can make better decisions under uncertainty; and uncertainty communication. Papers that address the following topical areas (in relation, but not limited to, Benelux countries) are especially welcome:
Papers that address the following topical areas (in relation, but not limited to, Benelux countries) are especially welcome:

• Systemic risks
• Brexit and future stability of the EU
• Climate change
• Health and safety
• Cybersecurity
• Artificial intelligence
• Smart cities and urban development

Abstracts can be submitted to Dr. Catherine Wong until December 1, 2018

Chemicals are an important part of modern life. From the soaps and toothpastes that we use in the morning, to those used at work and the manufacture of new products, and those used to manage agricultural pests. These chemicals all have hazards. It is important for the health of people and the environment that the risks from these hazards are managed properly. The panel presents a variety of how New Zealand’s regulators look at these risks from a range of perspectives, including importing or manufacturing a substance for the first time, managing chemicals safely at work, and residues on the food we eat. Are there also non-chemical alternatives that could be used?

Michael Berardozzi Importing and manufacturing pesticides
Team Leader, Hazardous Substances Applications, Environmental Protection Authority Te Mana Rauhī Taiao

Lee Bailey Legacy pesticides still in New Zealand
Senior Advisor, Hazardous Substances Reassessments, Environmental Protection Authority Te Mana Rauhī Taiao

Clark Ehlers Assessing the benefits and risks of releasing exotic organisms to manage invasive species in New Zealand
Senior Advisor, New Organisms, Environmental Protection Authority Te Mana Rauhī Taiao
 
Julian Jackson Cultural risk assessment tool for New Zealand
Senior Advisor, Kaupapa Kura Taiao, Te Mana Rauhī Taiao

The 2018 conference of the Society for Risk Analysis-Australia and New Zealand (SRA-ANZ) brings together multidisciplinary panels aimed at analysing risk from different perspectives, and invites professionals and scholars to engage in discussions on how to creatively and insightfully push the frontiers of risk research and risk management towards an increasingly complex future.

Learn more about the conference sessions and presenters here!
   
26th and 27th September  
ABS 1050 Abercrombie Building
Cnr Abercrombie and Codrington Streets
The University of Sydney Business School

REGISTER HERE

It's time to make plans to join SRA in New Orleans, LA, December 2-6, for the 2018 Annual Meeting.

Registration for the meeting is now open and we encourage you to register early to take advantage of early-bird pricing!

Interested in attending a full or half-day workshop on Sunday or Thursday? We have many workshops being offered for the first time this year, as well as favorites returning from years past.

Register before October 17 and use promo code SRA2018 to save 10% on workshop costs.

Interested in joining SRA's new mentorship program? The SRA Mentorship Program facilitates communication throughout the conference by linking those new to the field/profession with mid- and senior-level colleagues. Mentors advise emerging professionals (mentees) on getting the most value from the SRA Annual Meeting, introduce mentees to colleagues and discuss career goals. Mentees are encouraged to talk with mentors about challenges and opportunities in today's risk analysis landscape. Use the following links to enroll in the program: Mentors | Students/New Professionals.

As you make travel and lodging accommodations, we hope you are planning to join us through Wednesday afternoon to receive this year's event t-shirt. For your convenience, childcare services will be offered free of charge to meeting attendees on a first-come first-serve basis. Please use this form to enroll your child(ren).

For additional information, please see the 2018 Annual Meeting website.  

Dear SRA-ANZ Members,
There’s a fable that is said to have originated from the Indian subcontinent about some blind men and an elephant. There are many versions of the story, but the gist is pretty much the same. A group of men—blind from birth—heard that something called an ‘elephant’ had arrived in their town. Curious to know what an elephant was, they all reached out to touch it. One man reached out and happened to touch the trunk, and concluded that an elephant was some sort of snake. Another reached out and happened to touch one of the elephant’s legs, and concluded that it was some sort of tree. And finally, the last one reached out and happened to grasp the elephant’s tail, and concluded that an elephant was some kind of whip. A big argument ensued as to what an elephant actually was, with each of the men being partly right about its characteristics but also simultaneously completely wrong about its true nature.  
Risk analysis has flourished into a rich and diverse field, with analytical approaches increasingly growing in sophistication. As a community, we certainly have much to celebrate in terms of pushing the boundaries of the analysis and management of different types of risk. The strength of the field, however, is the hallmark of its weakness: while we have explored the vast diversity of risk, we have also contributed to its fragmentation.
Have we become the blind men who have been independently trying to understand what an elephant is? Have we developed strong convictions about what we know about particular risks, but failed to see the big picture? As we continue to deepen our understanding of different risks, are we depriving ourselves of the opportunity to truly grasp its nature?
In order to push the boundaries of risk analysis, we need to bring our different perspectives and areas of expertise together. This is the only way for us to gain important insights into the complex nature of risk, and to appreciate how our work builds on and enriches each other’s approaches.
It is in this spirit that SRA-ANZ is aiming to expand its membership base to include other areas of risk analysis that have not been traditionally well-represented in the Society. It is likewise in this spirit that this year’s conference on Risk Prisms at the University of Sydney Business School brings together multidisciplinary panels aimed at analysing the same risk from different perspectives (early bird registration is closing soon!).
We need to break down our disciplinary silos. We need to talk about the elephant in the room.
Sandra Seno-Alday, SRA-ANZ President

Let’s Talk Risk with the Society for Risk Analysis, the world’s leading authority on risk science and its applications, helps bring clarity to the world of risk, uncertainty, and ambiguity.

Episodes currently available for download include:
Ep. 1: The Uncertainty Component
Ep. 2: We've Been Underestimating Climate Change
Ep. 3: The Preservation of a Culture
Ep. 4: Clearing House at the EPA: An Attack on Science
Ep. 5: Infrastructure Management: Communities Can Profit From Disaster

Download from the iTunes store here.

Abstract Submission is Open
The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) invites your abstracts for presentations at the 2018 SRA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, December 2-6.
 
We welcome contributions on any topic related to risk assessment, risk characterization, risk perception, risk communication, risk management, risk governance, and policy relating to risk, in the context of risks of concern to individuals, to public and private sector organizations, and to society at a local, regional, national, or global level.

This year's theme, “The Many Faces of Risk,” is intended to showcase inclusion, a cornerstone of SRA and vital to the ability to address today’s most pressing risk issues. The theme underscores the diversity of SRA in terms of the professions, disciplines, methodologies, nationalities, and regions its membership represents. It also highlights the staggering array of topics that SRA members and meeting participants explore in their research and practice. 
 
Abstracts are due no later than May 29, 2018, midnight EST.
Click here for complete submission guidelines and to submit your abstract.

Continuing education workshops will be offered on Sunday, December 2 and Thursday, December 6 in either 4 or 8 hour sessions. This year we are encouraging proposals aimed at improving the foundations and/or practice of risk analysis. Click here for complete workshop submission guidelines and to submit your proposal. Continuing education workshop proposals are due no later than May 29, 2018. 

The Society for Risk Analysis invites your abstracts for presentations at the Fifth World Congress on Risk in Cape Town, South Africa, May 6-8, 2019.
The Fifth World Congress on Risk will focus on “Development and Resilience” and aims to stimulate dialogue and education on risk issues of worldwide interest. SRA welcomes contributions on any topic related to risk assessment, risk characterization, risk perception, risk communication, risk management, risk governance, and policy relating to risk, in the context of risks of concern to individuals, to public and private sector organizations, and to society at a local, regional, national, or global level.
SRA is particularly interested in receiving submissions from outstanding researchers doing work in risk analysis from Africa, Asia, Oceania, Middle East or Latin America and will aim to support their travel to present at the World Congress. The organizing committee welcomes proposals for a variety of session formats: poster-platform presentation, oral presentation and symposium presentation.

Click here for complete submission guidelines and to submit your abstract.

Register for the 2018 SRA Europe Conference 
June 18-20, 2018 in Östersund, SwedenThe special theme of the conference, "Risk & Uncertainty – From Critical Thinking to Practical Impact" reflects the current need to persist the phenomenon of knowledge resistance and alternative facts, as well as to develop applied research for risk analysis in open and democratic contexts.
The conference will be held at Mid Sweden University in Östersund, a small town close to the mountains in the north of Sweden. During the conference you will experience the longest day of the year when the sun rises at 2.50 a.m., only a few hours after it sets.
This conference gathers academics, policy makers, and practitioners interested in risk research, policy, and practice, including members of the SRA-E, SRA International and other regional SRA organizations.
We hope you will take the opportunity to visit our beautiful town, take part in the conference, and listen to inspiring speakers.

Register now to take advantage of early-bird pricing.