Risk, uncertainty and resilience
Issues of risk and uncertainty cut across every public policy topic. The systems that make up our society are complex and a deep upstanding of the nature of those systems, and the nature of risk, uncertainty and resilience, is needed to mitigate against system failure.
Resilience as a matter of public policy and a topic for scientific research is receiving increasing attention, not least because the pace of technological innovation is accelerating and bringing with it fresh vulnerabilities. It is therefore challenging that the bridge between research and policy is so rickety in respect of the understanding and communication of risk and uncertainty.
CSaP brings together researchers and policy makers to discuss issues of risk, uncertainty and resilience, both to look at problematic inputs – such as both natural and manmade disasters – and the fragility of the systems themselves.
University of Cambridge Initiatives and Centres active in this theme include:
Cambridge University Centre for Risk in the Built Environment
People
Mr Creon Butler Cabinet Office
Professor Andrew Challinor University of Leeds
Dr Alex Churchill Ministry of Defence (MoD)
Professor Brian Collins Faculty of Engineering Science, University College London
Mr Ivan Collister Number 10 Policy Unit
Mr Howard Covington The Science Museum
Professor Jon Crowcroft Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge
Dr Joanna Dally Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO)
Mr Frank Davies Child Poverty Unit
Ms Nicole Dewandre European Commission
Dr Amy Donovan Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
Mr Michael Eaton Welsh Government
Dr Miles Elsden Department for Transport
Dr Simon Gardner Environment Agency for England and Wales
Mr Ross Gribbin Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)
Professor Chris Hankin Imperial College London
Mr Mitchell Harris Cabinet Office
Dr Llyr Jones BAE Systems
Mr Rupert Koci-Edwards Government Strategy Analyst
Mr Philip Langsdale Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Ms Andrea Lee Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)
Liam Maxwell 10 Downing Street
Dr Chris McFee Government Office for Science (GO-Science)
Dr Jan Marco Müller European Commission
Professor Jim Norton Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST)
Mr Alan Pratt Home Office
Professor Peter Sammonds Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction, University College London
Professor David Spiegelhalter Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge
Mr Paul Swarbrick NATS
Mr John Tesh Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS), Cabinet Office