International Risk Governance Center Explained

International Risk Governance Center
Type:Interdisciplinary Center
Focus:Risk governance
Risk management
Regulations
Policy
Science
Founded:Geneva, Switzerland (2003)
Headquarters:École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
Lausanne, Switzerland
Area Served:Worldwide

The International Risk Governance Center (IRGC) is a neutral interdisciplinary center based at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland. IRGC develops risk governance strategies that focus on involving all key stakeholder groups, including citizens, governments, businesses and academia. It exists to improve the understanding, management and governance of emerging and systemic risks that may have significant adverse consequences for human health and the environment, the economy and society. Its mission includes "developing concepts of risk governance, anticipating major risk issues and providing risk governance policy advice for key decision-makers."[1]

History

IRGC began as a non-profit called the International Risk Governance Council in 2003, when academics from various countries proposed to the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research to create an international and independent body with the mission to develop and implement concepts and actions to improve the governance of risk. The Swiss Federal Assembly then created the International Risk Governance Council to bridge increasing gaps between science, technological development, decision-makers, and the public.[2] It was formally founded in Geneva as a private foundation in June 2003.[3] José Mariano Gago, the former Portuguese Minister for Science and Higher Education, was the first chairman of the Foundation Board followed by Donald J. Johnston and Granger M. Morgan. Wolfgang Kröger was the founding rector.[4]

In July 2012, the council was granted special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).[5] As of January 1, 2013, the International Risk Governance Council signed a formal collaboration agreement with EPFL and moved to Lausanne. The goal of this move was strengthened collaboration with academia, which allowed the council to expand its academic network and further develop its science-based approach. In July 2014, it became a member of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).[6]

In 2016, the Council became the International Risk Governance Center (IRGC) at EPFL, where it continues to develop the original mission and activities.[7]

Activities

IRGC's work is rooted in the IRGC Risk Governance Framework,[8] which was developed to provide guidance to organizations and society for identifying and managing risks in situations of complexity, uncertainty or ambiguity. IRGC develops risk governance concepts and has developed numerous frameworks, including on the governance of emerging[9] and systemic[10] risks. These frameworks are applied to a wide range of specific risk domains.

IRGC's frameworks are used by numerous institutions and organizations, including the European Food Safety Authority,[11] the Health Council of the Netherlands,[12] the US Environmental Protection Agency,[13] the OECD,[14] [15] [16] [17] and the European Commission.[18]

At EPFL, IRGC is one of the centers that act at the interface between academic research and education, and business and policy. IRGC interacts with the EPFL community and contributes a risk governance approach to their activities.

In recent years, IRGC has focused increasingly on risks associated with emerging technologies. Currently, IRGC is active in the areas of nanotechnology,[19] climate engineering,[20] [21] the low-carbon transition,[22] space debris collision risk,[23] [24] [25] [26] deepfakes,[27] [28] and governance of digital technology.[29] [30] [31]

Past areas of focus include biosecurity,[32] precision medicine,[33] synthetic biology,[34] unconventional gas development, bioenergy, and critical infrastructure.[35]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.irgc.org/about/mission-and-purpose/ Mission and Purpose
  2. http://www.admin.ch/opc/de/federal-gazette/2003/2363.pdf Botschaft über die Förderung von Bildung, Forschung und Technologie in den Jahren 2004–2007
  3. http://www.edi.admin.ch/esv/05263/index.html?webgrab_path=aHR0cDovL2VzdjIwMDAuZWRpLmFkbWluLmNoL2QvZW50cnkuYXNwP0lkPTI4MDE%3D&lang=deStiftungsverzeichnis Eidgenössisches Departement des Innern
  4. Web site: History. 2021-08-18. IRGC. en-US.
  5. http://csonet.org/content/documents/e2013inf6.pdf List of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council as of 1 September 2013
  6. http://unsdsn.org/news/2014/07/24/sdsn-welcomes-new-members/ SDSN Welcomes New Members
  7. Web site: EPFL International Risk Governance Center. 2021-08-18. IRGC. en-US.
  8. Web site: Risk governance framework. 2021-08-18. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  9. Web site: Emerging risks. 2021-08-18. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  10. Web site: Guidelines for the governance of systemic risks. 2021-08-18. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  11. Book: 2009. Renn. Ortwin. Dreyer. Marion. Food Safety Governance. en-gb. 10.1007/978-3-540-69309-3. 978-3-540-69308-6 .
  12. Web site: Ministerie van Volksgezondheid. Welzijn en Sport. 2006-04-27. Health significance of nanotechnologies - Advisory report - The Health Council of the Netherlands. 2021-08-18. www.healthcouncil.nl. en-GB.
  13. Web site: Document Display NEPIS US EPA. 2021-08-18. nepis.epa.gov. en.
  14. Web site: OECD. 2020. SHAPING THE COVID-19 RECOVERY: Ideas from OECD's Generation Y and Z. 18 August 2021.
  15. Tõnurist. Piret. Hanson. Angela. 2020-12-24. Anticipatory innovation governance: Shaping the future through proactive policy making. OECD Working Papers on Public Governance . en. 10.1787/cce14d80-en. 234898358 .
  16. Web site: OECD. 2021-08-18. read.oecd-ilibrary.org.
  17. Web site: Systemic Thinking for Policy Making: The Potential of Systems Analysis for Addressing Global Policy Challenges in the 21st Century. 2021-08-18. www.oecd-ilibrary.org. en.
  18. Web site: NRA - European Commission. 2021-08-18. drmkc.jrc.ec.europa.eu. en-US.
  19. Web site: NANORIGO – NANOtechnology RIsk Governance. 2021-08-18. en-US.
  20. News: FOEN. Federal Office for the Environment. International Affairs: Studies. en. 2021-08-18.
  21. Web site: Combatting climate change through a portfolio of approaches. 2021-08-18. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  22. Sanctuary. Hillary. IRGC. 2021-02-18. The time to take low-carbon transition risks seriously is now. en.
  23. Web site: Kriening. Torsten. 2021-07-11.
    1. SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Addressing the limitations of our current approach to collision risk from space debris
    . 2021-08-18. SpaceWatch.Global. en-US.
  24. News: 2021-07-10. Le danger du chaos spatial. fr. Le Temps. 2021-08-18. 1423-3967.
  25. Web site: Les débris spatiaux, casse-tête pour la gouvernance internationale. 2021-08-18. www.heidi.news. fr.
  26. Web site: Buchs. Romain. 2021-06-04. Collision risk from space debris: Current status, challenges and response strategies. 2021-08-18. Infoscience. en.
  27. Web site: How Swiss scientists are trying to spot deepfakes. 2021-08-18. SWI swissinfo.ch. en.
  28. Web site: Risk governance and the rise of deepfakes. 2021-08-18. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  29. Book: Viscusi. Gianluigi. Collins. Aengus. Florin. Marie-Valentine. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance . Governments' strategic stance toward artificial intelligence . 2020-09-23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3428502.3428508. ICEGOV 2020. Athens, Greece. Association for Computing Machinery. 44–53. 10.1145/3428502.3428508. 978-1-4503-7674-7. 225954326 .
  30. Web site: Governance Of and By Digital Technology hosted by EPFL & IRGC. 2021-08-18. en-US.
  31. Web site: Using "proof of personhood" to tackle social media risks. 2021-08-18. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  32. Trump. Benjamin D. Galaitsi. Se. Appleton. Evan. Bleijs. Diederik A. Florin. Marie-Valentine. Gollihar. Jimmy D. Hamilton. R Alexander. Kuiken. Todd. Lentzos. Filippa. Mampuys. Ruth. Merad. Myriam. 2020-07-01. Building biosecurity for synthetic biology. Molecular Systems Biology. 16. 7. e9723. 10.15252/msb.20209723. 1744-4292. 7373080. 32692486.
  33. Web site: Precision medicine. 2021-08-18. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.
  34. Haffner. Julie. 2019-07-16. Evaluating the risks posed by synthetic biology. en.
  35. Web site: Resilience. 2021-08-18. www.epfl.ch. en-GB.

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