ENVI1153 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Adaptive Capacity, Living Systems, Risk Aversion
Week 6: Risk and Resilience
Sustainability – buzzword and is importance. Resilience works with sustainable and is
complementary rather than competing concepts.
The rise of risk aversion
‘risk aversion’ came from psychology in responding to risks. Prevelant in fields from
international relations, financial management and disaster management.
Limit of Risk Management
Exaggerating our ability to minimise or manage risk. Losing when worrying too much about
exposing ourselves at risk. Psychologists warn that risk aversion can undermine resilience at
a personal level. There is a difference between being exposed to risk without choosing a
level of risk exposure.
Risk Assessment and Hazard Reduction
Useful to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable risks. Exposure to hazards is not
the same as risk exposure, especially if the hazard is unseen or unknown.
Perceptions of risk
Can come from rational and irrational. Bangladesh frequent flooding and manage by floating
schools or gardens. Ill-founded fear of risks can snowball.
Cultural Dimensions
People living in socieities have a greater risk of aversion – belief in our capacity to minimise
risk. Hazard reduction is a good thing, determination to avoid risk may make us less resilient
and less resourceful.
The ‘globalisation’ of risk
Increases in risk related to increasing mobility of people and goods. Includes:
- Movement of pathogens
- Toxins and waste
- Vulnerable long distant supply chains
- Reliance of fossil fuels
Greater economic integrations means greater local risks
Risks aren’t stating, they evolve over time
The risk society
Book by Ulrich Beck ‘the risk society; focuses on the growing complexity of risk and
responses
Beck reflected on the experience of the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster
Key considerations:
- It becomes harder to attribute blame
- Equally hard to attribute responsibility
- Compensation claims have become enormous and are exceeding the capacity to pay
All reaches to ‘organised responsibility’ can’t target one person
Positive Implications
It is increasingly obvious that old approaches to risk are not working and we need to
rethink risk
The spread of risk is leading to increase ecological awareness and new cosmopolitan
movement
Growing understanding of strengths and limitations of science
Risk and Innovation
Risk needs to be taken to break through old barriers
Risk can be driven by imagination and creative thinking
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Resilience works with sustainable and is complementary rather than competing concepts. Risk aversion" came from psychology in responding to risks. Prevelant in fields from international relations, financial management and disaster management. Exaggerating our ability to minimise or manage risk. Losing when worrying too much about exposing ourselves at risk. Psychologists warn that risk aversion can undermine resilience at a personal level. There is a difference between being exposed to risk without choosing a level of risk exposure. Useful to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable risks. Exposure to hazards is not the same as risk exposure, especially if the hazard is unseen or unknown. Bangladesh frequent flooding and manage by floating schools or gardens. People living in socieities have a greater risk of aversion belief in our capacity to minimise risk. Hazard reduction is a good thing, determination to avoid risk may make us less resilient and less resourceful. Increases in risk related to increasing mobility of people and goods.
