Ragnar E Lofstedt
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 4491523 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Ragnar E Lofstedt |
| PRENOMES | Ragnar E |
| SOBRENOME | Lofstedt |
| ASSINATURA | LOFSTEDT R E |
| AFILIAÇÕES | King's College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6815-1786 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 61 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 180 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 57 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 4 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1991 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2025 |
| ÍNDICE H | 7 |
An archaeology of risk
This study presents a bibliometric analysis of two journals central to the field of risk research—Risk Analysis and Journal of Risk Research to outline what has been accomplished, evaluate how the field has developed, and uncover potential future avenues of research focus. Conducting a bibliometric analysis of journal article keywords collected from the Scopus database between 1981 and 2023, we evaluate the risk research field using quantitative …
Where is risk education? Exploring risk education in secondary schools in England
Risk researchers have asserted that risk education in secondary schools is minimal, if it exists at all. This study shows that some aspects of risk are taught as part of the National Curriculum in England. As risk science has developed, many of its proponents have recognised the importance of ensuring that all students in secondary schools are exposed to risk concepts and thinking. In the education field, risk education is seen as important but i…
Risk communication, uncertainty and the Dutch energy transition
In this article we examine what the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy may wish to do going forward when it comes to communicating the risks and uncertainties associated with the Dutch energy transition. The article is based in part on two case studies namely the communications regarding COVID vaccines in Sweden in the spring of 2021 and EFSA’s multi-year effort in developing a coherent strategy regarding the communication of u…
Risk and uncertainty
The objective of this article is to present specific concepts that can assist the Dutch government when facing scientific uncertainties in relation to the risks of technologies used for the energy transition. Of particular interest are concepts and approaches that create and maintain a balance between the need to enable innovation and the need to ensure high levels of protection to human life and the environment. The approach is grounded in the d…
Equipping society for everyday lives
Risk experts and government agencies have long advocated for the inclusion of risk education as part of formal schooling; however, questions remain as to what risk education is and how it should be taught. Drawing on interviews with eleven risk experts based in scientific institutions and universities, we explored their views and priorities regarding secondary school-based risk education. Analysis of these expert interviews highlighted varied con…
Twenty-five years of the Journal of Risk Research
The Journal of Risk Research is a leading international journal in risk research connected to multidisciplinary areas. It was launched in 1998 and founded by Ragnar E. Löfstedt. Motivated by its 25th anniversary in 2023, this paper presents a general bibliometric overview of the leading trends occurring in the journal between 1998 and 2023. The study aims to identify the journal’s impact, the most productive and influential authors, institutions,…
Predictors of Covid-19 risk perception, worry and anxiety in Italy at the end of the 2020 national lockdown
The present study examined the psychological predictors of four measures assessing the cognitive and emotional reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of Italian respondents (N = 497). Using a snowball sampling strategy, an online questionnaire was disseminated through various social media between 29th April and 29th May 2020, that is at the end of the period of national lockdown. Correlational and regression analyses indicated that a) cog…
The elements of choice
The elements of choice: why the way we decide matters." Journal of Risk Research, 25(11-12), pp. 1476–1477
Risk communication and Covid-19 in Europe
Risk communication is key to engaging with the public on non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to promote acceptance, compliance and policy support. This article outlines the considerations needed for effective risk communication to promote support for and compliance with NPIs alongside building trust, before assessing the hazard characteristics of COVID-19 on public perceptions. Highlighting examples of risk communication successes and failure…
Covid-19
European lockdown strategies over the winter of 2020 have brought into sharp relief the need for effective strategies to reduce the rate of COVID-19 transmission and lower the rate of hospitalisations and deaths. Understanding exactly how European nations have arrived at this point, and the process by which they have done this, is key to learning constructive lessons for future pandemic risk management. Bringing together experience from across fi…
Journal of risk research special issue in honour of Ortwin Renn
Prof Ortwin Renn was one of my PhD supervisors at Clark University (along with Prof Robert Mitchell and Prof Roger Kasperson) where I studied risk research and energy policy between 1988 and 1992
Covid-19 vaccine rollout management and communication in Europe
Vaccines represent one of the most important methods to reduce the risk of hospitalisation and mortality as a result of COVID-19. To ensure the spread and risk of the Delta variant of COVID-19 is minimised, as many people as possible nationally must be fully vaccinated. Ensuring success in reaching high rates of vaccination relies on both effective risk management and risk communication strategies. This paper evaluates vaccine rollout management …
Covid-19 vaccine rollout risk communication strategies in Europe
Risk communication is a vital part of any risk management strategy but has become even more important in the time of the COVID-19 global health crisis. In recent months, nations across Europe have begun to consider strategies for rolling out vaccines, which is widely seen as the way to overcome high death rates and widespread lockdowns over the course of 2020. In most European nations, vaccinations are not mandatory and thus public willingness to…
Covid-19
On 30th January 2020, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) regarding the outbreak of the novel coronaviru
Risk and Uncertainty in a Post-Truth Society
Effects of public trust on behavioural intentions in the pharmaceutical sector
Few studies have empirically examined the relationship between trust and its consequences in the pharmaceutical context (e.g. the consequences of trust in medicines advice for patient behaviour). This study empirically examined the European public’s perceived trustworthiness of medical, societal, and industry sources of medicines advice, and its consequences for their behavioural intentions including their medicine-taking and information-seeking …
The management and communication of a food risk controversy
Between September 2016 and May 2017 levels of campylobacter infections in Swedish conventionally reared broilers doubled to more than 20%. The increased levels of infected broilers in turn led to a massive increase in Swedes getting sick from campylobacter food poisoning. In April 2017, for example, the Swedish medical community reported that there were five times higher levels of Swedish campylobacter poisonings compared to a normal year and a v…
The Potsdam radon communication manifesto
Risk communication efforts to mitigate the second cause of lung cancer worldwide (after tobacco smoking) – the radioactive gas radon in buildings – are often ineffective. Therefore, new European legal requirements bind member states to prepare communication strategies to ‘... increase public awareness and inform local decision makers, employers and employees of the risks of radon...’ (Council directive 2013/59/EURATOM, ANNEX XVIII/(10)). This man…
Evidence based uncertainty
This short commentary is a response to recent published work by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). EFSA is an independent regulatory body that provides scientific evidence to decision-makers in order to advise on what constitutes food safety in Europe. As a consequence, they set the tone for the conceptualisation of risk and uncertainty for those involved throughout the entire risk analysis process, as well as all the stake holders involv…
The problems of increasing transparency on uncertainty
Public regulators (such as European Food Safety Authority, European Medicines Agency, and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) are placing increasing demands on scientists to make uncertainties about their evidence transparent to the public. The stated goal is utilitarian, to inform and empower the public and ensure the accountability of policy and decision-making around the use of scientific evidence. However, it is questionable w…
Learning lessons
The aim of this article is to cover three things: (1) to introduce the context behind why a report prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2017 would be of such importance to researchers in various academic disciplines and public policy, (2) to present the details of a simple classification system that was applied to all 111 case studies of behavioural interventions (better known as nudges) referred to in …
The communication of radon risk in Sweden
Overall, when the Swedish National Board of Housing and Planning has had a proper communication/information budget the Board has been successful with regard to communicating the risks associated with radon, leading to homes being measured, and ensuring that individuals apply for up to half the costs associated with radon sanitation measures. When the Board has not had these funds it has not been successful. What is clear now is that the Board wil…
Risk communication and fatty fish
This paper evaluates Swedish Food Agency’s communication strategy with regard to the benefits and risks associated with eating Baltic Sea fatty fish. It concludes that the agency is doing a rather good job in this area. Its levels of trust among the Swedish public remain high. The 2012–2013 campaign should be seen as a success especially with such a limited budget. A number of ‘at risk’ groups now have a better understanding about the risks of ea…
Transparency at the Swedish Forest Agency
Since February 2016, the Swedish Forest Agency (hereafter the ‘Agency’) has uploaded all requests for clear cuts on its Forest Data web-portal, which includes detailed forest maps which can be magnified online in order to pinpoint exactly where the clear cut is expected to take place (see https://skogskartan.skogsstyrelsen.se/skogskartan). The reason for doing so is to simplify the work of the Agency, as well as to assist forest and energy compan…
Uncertainty analysis
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has long been an advocate of greater transparency. One of the tools promoted to achieve more transparency is to describe the underlying uncertainties within EFSA’s scientific opinions. The key issue though is whether members of the European public actually want to know more about the details of the scientific uncertainties associated with a certain risk topic or a scientific opinion or would they prefer t…
Think globally, act locally
The changing nature of communication and regulation of risk in Europe
The regulation and communication of risk have changed significantly over the past 20 years or so, partially as a result of a number of regulatory scandals in Europe and elsewhere, which have led to greater public distrust of regulators and policy‐makers. This increase in public distrust has resulted in a phasing‐out of consensual‐style regulation, and the emergence of a newer model of regulation based on variables including public participation, …
Precautionary principles
Precautionary principles have been proposed as a fundamental element of sound risk management. Their advocates see them as guiding action in the face of uncertainty, encouraging the adoption of measures that reduce serious risks to health, safety, and the environment. Their opponents may reject the very idea of precautionary principles, find specific principles unacceptably vague or see them as clearly doing economic damage—either to society as a…
Climate change perceptions and energy-use decisions in Northern Sweden☆
Covid-19
On 30th January 2020, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) regarding the outbreak of the novel coronaviru
Risk communication guidelines for Europe
The purpose of this paper is to firstly develop a series of so-called risk communication guidelines via the risk perception and communication literatures that in turn can be used by media, industry and regulators. In the second part of the paper, the draft guidelines are tested against a number of food scares ranging from aspartame to Sudan 1, and semicarbazides in baby food. In the final section of the paper, the usefulness of the guidelines is …
Risk communication
Over the past 30 years, researchers and practitioners have discussed the importance of risk communication in solving disputes ranging from the public outcry regarding importing GMO foods from the United States to Europe, the siting of waste incinerators in many parts of Europe to the building a permanent high level nuclear waste facility in the United States. In this paper the history of risk communication is discussed, focusing particularly on t…
State of the art transparency
This Special Issue of the Journal of Risk Research was initiated to increase the evidence base supporting critical understanding of the use and impacts of transparency as a policy tool in risk management and regulation in Europe and North America. The lead research articles and perspectives were initially presented at a two-day workshop supported by the Journal of Risk Research and its publisher Taylor and Francis, which took place in Lavandou, P…
Effective risk communication and CCS
Over the past ten years or so, there have been multiple attempts to site and build carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities in Europe, North America and elsewhere. To date, most of those attempts have not been successful. In Europe, for example, there are currently no commercial CCS facilities in operation. There are a number of reasons for this, ranging from lack of political will, the collapsing price of CO2, lack of commercial drivers to ca…
How can we Make Food Risk Communication Better
Over the past number of years the reporting of food scares, particularly in European context, have grown in prevalence. These scares are more often than not amplified by the media leading to greater pressure on regulators, industry and other stakeholders to communicate the actual risks associated with the food issue in question accurately. The aims of this paper is three fold: firstly, provide a brief background on the history of risk communicati…
Covid-19 vaccine rollout risk communication strategies in Europe
Risk communication is a vital part of any risk management strategy but has become even more important in the time of the COVID-19 global health crisis. In recent months, nations across Europe have begun to consider strategies for rolling out vaccines, which is widely seen as the way to overcome high death rates and widespread lockdowns over the course of 2020. In most European nations, vaccinations are not mandatory and thus public willingness to…
Evidence-based uncertainty analysis
There has been a great deal of discussion regarding both the communication of scientific uncertainties associated with regulatory decisions as well as the supposed need for more transparent uncertainty analyses associated with risk assessments themselves. More recently, in Europe this discussion has been led by the European Food Safety Authority’s Scientific Committee. In this viewpoint, we both review the ongoing debates surrounding uncertainty …
Transparency and trust in the European pharmaceutical sector
Many European pharmaceutical regulators have committed to a more open, inclusive, and transparent model of regulatory decision-making in recent years. Yet, based on little empirical evidence, they have overwhelmingly adopted ‘fishbowl’ transparency measures, ‘the full disclosure of information without explanatory information or contextualization’ (e.g. heightening access to raw data). This paper conveys recent findings from an open-ended question…
The first five years of the EU Impact Assessment system
In 2003, the European Commission (EC) started using Impact Assessment (IA) as the main empirical basis for its major policy proposals. The aim was to systematically assess ex ante the economic, social and environmental impacts of European Union (EU) policy proposals. In parallel, research proliferated in search for theoretical grounds for IAs and in an attempt to evaluate empirically the performance of the first sets of IAs produced by the EC. Th…
Risk communication and Covid-19 in Europe
Risk communication is key to engaging with the public on non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to promote acceptance, compliance and policy support. This article outlines the considerations needed for effective risk communication to promote support for and compliance with NPIs alongside building trust, before assessing the hazard characteristics of COVID-19 on public perceptions. Highlighting examples of risk communication successes and failure…
The Potsdam radon communication manifesto
Risk communication efforts to mitigate the second cause of lung cancer worldwide (after tobacco smoking) – the radioactive gas radon in buildings – are often ineffective. Therefore, new European legal requirements bind member states to prepare communication strategies to ‘... increase public awareness and inform local decision makers, employers and employees of the risks of radon...’ (Council directive 2013/59/EURATOM, ANNEX XVIII/(10)). This man…
Medicines transparency at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the new information age
The concept of transparency has gained widespread appeal in the European pharmaceutical domain, not least at the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Agency policies have two main objectives: (1) to enable the reuse of data (e.g. clinical study reports) and (2) to empower patients to directly and indirectly make more informed decisions on medicines. Past research has almost exclusively focused on the perspectives of external researchers intending to …
The ‘Plateau‐ing’ of the European Better Regulation Agenda
This paper examines the European Commission's (EC) Better Regulation Agenda, from the time that President Barroso came to power – in November 2004 – to the 2006 summer recess. It particularly focuses on whether the Commission's regulatory thinking has moved away from the precautionary principle and towards Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA), something I predicted in 2004 (Lofstedt, 2004 Lofstedt, R. E. 2004. The swing of the regulatory pendulum in …
Covid-19
European lockdown strategies over the winter of 2020 have brought into sharp relief the need for effective strategies to reduce the rate of COVID-19 transmission and lower the rate of hospitalisations and deaths. Understanding exactly how European nations have arrived at this point, and the process by which they have done this, is key to learning constructive lessons for future pandemic risk management. Bringing together experience from across fi…
Learning lessons
The aim of this article is to cover three things: (1) to introduce the context behind why a report prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2017 would be of such importance to researchers in various academic disciplines and public policy, (2) to present the details of a simple classification system that was applied to all 111 case studies of behavioural interventions (better known as nudges) referred to in …
The communication of radon risk in Sweden
Overall, when the Swedish National Board of Housing and Planning has had a proper communication/information budget the Board has been successful with regard to communicating the risks associated with radon, leading to homes being measured, and ensuring that individuals apply for up to half the costs associated with radon sanitation measures. When the Board has not had these funds it has not been successful. What is clear now is that the Board wil…
A possible way forward for evidence-based and risk-informed policy-making in Europe
European regulatory policy, especially in the chemicals and environmental sectors, is not as predictable, evidence-based, risk-informed, or clear as it could be. There are a number of reasons for this, all somewhat related to the new more adversarial model of regulation. This includes the involvement of influential environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and member states (such as Denmark and Sweden) that are highly active in environm…
Risk communication and the FSA
Food colourings and flavourings have a long history. Spices and preservatives have been added to foods for millennia in order to make them last longer and taste better. Herbs, spices, pepper and salt, and other natural flavours and preservatives remain popular to this day. But over the last century or so the food and drinks industry has in many cases replaced or added to naturally occurring preservatives and colourings with synthetic compounds. A…
Risk-risk tradeoffs
Risk-risk tradeoffs occur when a regulator focuses on decreasing one particular risk in one area which leads to another risk appearing elsewhere which was not originally considered. These risk-risk tradeoffs abound all around us and are frequently ignored by regulators. In this article we firstly, examine why risk-risk tradeoffs are often ignored. Secondly we summarize some of the criticisms to the use of risk-risk tradeoffs and then we look at t…
Transparency and trust in the European pharmaceutical sector
Since writing and submitting our draft article on transparency and trust in the European pharmaceutical sector, the pace towards still greater ‘fishbowl’ transparency has sped up. On the 2nd of Apr
Climate change perceptions and energy-use decisions in Northern Sweden☆
Energy policies and the greenhouse effect, volume 2
Survey of energy sources 1992
Fuel poverty
Energy efficiency and human activity
Renewable energy
A comment to Fischer and Berglund
What factors determine Sweden's provision of environmental aid to Eastern Europe
Why are public perception studies on the environment ignored
Think globally, act locally
Transboundary environmental problems
Precautionary principles
Precautionary principles have been proposed as a fundamental element of sound risk management. Their advocates see them as guiding action in the face of uncertainty, encouraging the adoption of measures that reduce serious risks to health, safety, and the environment. Their opponents may reject the very idea of precautionary principles, find specific principles unacceptably vague or see them as clearly doing economic damage—either to society as a…
Risk communication
Over the past 30 years, researchers and practitioners have discussed the importance of risk communication in solving disputes ranging from the public outcry regarding importing GMO foods from the United States to Europe, the siting of waste incinerators in many parts of Europe to the building a permanent high level nuclear waste facility in the United States. In this paper the history of risk communication is discussed, focusing particularly on t…
Risk Management in Post-Trust Societies
Risk communication helps companies, governments and institutions minimise disputes, resolve issues and anticipate problems before they result in an irreversible breakdown in communications. Without go
How can we Make Food Risk Communication Better
Over the past number of years the reporting of food scares, particularly in European context, have grown in prevalence. These scares are more often than not amplified by the media leading to greater pressure on regulators, industry and other stakeholders to communicate the actual risks associated with the food issue in question accurately. The aims of this paper is three fold: firstly, provide a brief background on the history of risk communicati…
The ‘Plateau‐ing’ of the European Better Regulation Agenda
This paper examines the European Commission's (EC) Better Regulation Agenda, from the time that President Barroso came to power – in November 2004 – to the 2006 summer recess. It particularly focuses on whether the Commission's regulatory thinking has moved away from the precautionary principle and towards Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA), something I predicted in 2004 (Lofstedt, 2004 Lofstedt, R. E. 2004. The swing of the regulatory pendulum in …
What environmental and technological risk communication research and health risk research can learn from each other
The study of risk perception and communication has emerged in several disciplines and fields, and there has not been strong convergence between them, especially in Europe and specifically in Britain. The lack of connection between, for example, the fields of health risk and environmental and technological risk, and still more with respect to fears of crime or old age poverty or privacy violation, has meant that theories have not been shown to be …
Risk communication and the FSA
Food colourings and flavourings have a long history. Spices and preservatives have been added to foods for millennia in order to make them last longer and taste better. Herbs, spices, pepper and salt, and other natural flavours and preservatives remain popular to this day. But over the last century or so the food and drinks industry has in many cases replaced or added to naturally occurring preservatives and colourings with synthetic compounds. A…
Risk communication guidelines for Europe
The purpose of this paper is to firstly develop a series of so-called risk communication guidelines via the risk perception and communication literatures that in turn can be used by media, industry and regulators. In the second part of the paper, the draft guidelines are tested against a number of food scares ranging from aspartame to Sudan 1, and semicarbazides in baby food. In the final section of the paper, the usefulness of the guidelines is …
The first five years of the EU Impact Assessment system
In 2003, the European Commission (EC) started using Impact Assessment (IA) as the main empirical basis for its major policy proposals. The aim was to systematically assess ex ante the economic, social and environmental impacts of European Union (EU) policy proposals. In parallel, research proliferated in search for theoretical grounds for IAs and in an attempt to evaluate empirically the performance of the first sets of IAs produced by the EC. Th…
The changing nature of communication and regulation of risk in Europe
The regulation and communication of risk have changed significantly over the past 20 years or so, partially as a result of a number of regulatory scandals in Europe and elsewhere, which have led to greater public distrust of regulators and policy‐makers. This increase in public distrust has resulted in a phasing‐out of consensual‐style regulation, and the emergence of a newer model of regulation based on variables including public participation, …
Risk Management in Post-Trust Societies
Foreword by George Cvetkovich Preface to the Paperback Edition Preface to the Hardback Edition 1. Introduction and Overview 2. A Review of the Four Risk Management Strategies 3. Germany and the Waste Incinerator in the North Black Forest 4. Risk Management in the United States: The Case of International Paper s Hydro-Dam Re-Licensing Procedure 5. Sweden: Barseb ck, Risk Management and Trust 6. Risk Management in the UK: The Case of Brent Spar 7. …
Social Trust and the Management of Risk
Facility Siting
Introduction * The Importance of Context in Siting Controversies: The Case of High-level Nuclear Waste in the US * Where Does It Go? Siting Methods and Social Representations of Radioactive Waste in France * Institutional Thinking in Siting Conflicts: The Case of stripa Mine * Siting Conflicts in Renewable Energy Projects: Biogas Case Study * The Smell of Money: Minor Risks and Olfactory Sensibilities (Anatomy of a Protest) * Living with Technolo…
The substitution principle in chemical regulation
The substitution principle is one of the building blocks of modern day chemical regulation as highlighted in the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals regulation. But what is the substitution principle, what is the history of its use and how do relevant authorities and regulatory actors view it? This article addresses these questions and is based on a grey literature review and 90 in-depth face-to-face formal and in…
Business (41 obras) · Political science (36 obras) · Risk Perception and Management (31 obras) · Public relations (21 obras) · Economics (20 obras) · Medicine (17 obras) · Risk analysis (engineering (16 obras) · Computer Science (15 obras) · Law (15 obras) · Psychology (15 obras)