Communicating Risks with Mobile Phone Systems

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Communicating Risks with Mobile Phone Systems
Stakeholder dialogue and trust-building
EuroScience Open Forum 2004
Björn HedbergSwedish Radiation Protection
Authority, SSIwww.ssi.se
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SSIs Experience in Risk Communication

• Final management of radioactive waste and spent
  nuclear fuel
• Facts - Value-laden judgements - Values
• Big problems with national programs on
  radioactive waste disposal
• Lack of public acceptance and trust
• Corresponds to different models of
  decision-making
• Technocratic lt gt Pragmatistic lt gt Decisionistic

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SSIs Experience in Risk Communication

• Final management of radioactive waste and spent
  nuclear fuel
• 8 Feasibility studies
• Need for authorities to act as people's
  experts and guardian of the process
• Different municipalities - different needs
  Information, Dialogue, Debate, Expert-meetings,
  Hearings
• gt Improved communication process

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SSIs Experience in Risk Communication

• The DIALOGUE project (1990 93)
• A clear legal base for decisions
• Review and validation by technical/scientific
  bodies separated from the political power
• Distinguish between factual judgements and
  value-laden judgements
• Two-way communications between all stakeholders
• Avoid manipulation

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SSIs Experience in Risk Communication

• The RISCOM Pilot project (1996 - 98)
• Technical/scientific and value-laden elements
  interaction between them - transparency
• Need to understand the roles of the different
  stakeholders
• Possibilities of evaluating the contribution and
  authenticity of all actors - stretching

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• Stretching
• A sufficiently demanding environment for all
  stakeholders, with critical questions raised from
  different perspectives

Transparency The outcome of learning processes
that increase all stakeholders appreciation of
related issues, and provide them with channels to
stretch to meet requirements for technical
explanations, authenticity, and legitimacy.
Transparency requires Communicative Action
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RISCOM basics
Facts - Scientific Methods and Technology
Dialogue to Clarify
Legitimacy - Norms

• Authenticity
• Personal and organisational integrity/identity/tru
  thfulness
• What builds Trust

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But what builds Trust ?

• Factors in assessing trust and credibility
• Vincent Covello (93)
• Competence expertise
• Honesty openness
• Dedication commitment
• Empathy caring

• Components of trust
• (Institutional trustworthiness)
• Ortwin Renn (98)
• Competence
• Openness
• Fairness
• Empathy

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The RISCOM Model
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Using the RISCOM - modelPerceptions of Risk and
Radiation Protection Criteria

• Dialogue on SSIs regulations on nuclear waste
• Regulations very general gt guidance needed
• Seminars and Focus groups - risk concept related
  to radiation protection criteria
• Continuing dialogue
• Include municipality values into the guidance
  document
• Response to the expressed needs of the public
• Expose authority expertise to stretching

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RISCOM applications in SSIs arenas

• Nuclear waste
• Mobile telephones and EMF
• Medical use of radiation
• Radioactive waste
• UV/sun
• Radon

Institutional trustworthiness ?
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Debate on New Mobile Phone Systems

• Aggressive debate in mass media
• Fragmentation of issues / narrow framing
• No distinction between facts, value-laden
  judgments and values
• Unclear understanding of the roles and arenas of
  different stakeholders
• Divergent perceptions of the earlier stages of
  the mobile phone evolution in Sweden
• Strategic action instead of communicative action

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Transparency Forum - Mobile Phone Systems

• Internal discussion and decision (SSI)
• Preparatory meetings to define the need for a
  dialogue process
• Municipal interest very high
• Extended meetings with a larger set of
  stakeholders(Other authorities, municipal
  representatives, industry, NGOs etc.)
• Creation of a reference group
• Preliminary project proposal, mutual agreement,
  principles for financing
• Decision to proceed with the project

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Transparency Forum - Mobile Phone Systems

• Project Aim
• To improve the dialogue and transparency in
  society
• regarding electromagnetic fields, focusing on new
  
• mobile telephone systems, and
• To increase the mutual understanding of different
  
• stakeholders roles and value judgements so that
• different discussions will be addressed in the
  right
• arenas

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Transparency Forum - Mobile Phone Systems

• Project description
• Phase 1
• Creating a mutual knowledge base with a focus
  on
• interactive seminars
• Phase 2
• Focusing on different types of hearing formats
• (stretching)
• Financing of phase 1 will be made by Swedish
  authorities
• Phase 2 could possibly be supported also by other
  financiers

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Transparency Forum - Mobile Phone Systems

• Project description - Phase 1
• 1 - Roles and arenas of the different
  stakeholders
• Historical evolution - new mobile telephone
  systems
• Description of different stakeholders roles and
  arenas
• System description interaction between
  different stakeholders and arenas
• A thorough description of the municipal arenas

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Transparency Forum - Mobile Phone Systems

• Project description - Phase 1
• 2 - The research basis for the risk judgment
• Radiation Physical and biological facts and
  judgments about non-ionising radiation
• Risk judgment concerning mobile telephones
• Different methods for risk judgment
• The basis for SSIs judgments and dose limits
• The situation for individuals who find themselves
  over-sensitive to electromagnetic fields
• An international view results from the
  Netherlands study

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Transparency Forum - Mobile Phone Systems

• Project description - Phase 1
• 3 - Precautionary principles and dose limits
• The Rio declaration
• Legal aspects (EU and national legislation)
• Dose limits for non-ionising radiation
• Different interpretations and practical
  implications

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Transparency Forum - Mobile Phone Systems

• Project description - Phase 1
• 4 ? Communication and Media
• Interaction with mass media
• The role of mass media
• Project description - Phase 2
• Planning will be done at the end of Phase 1
• Focus on hearing/stretching/publicity

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Transparency Forum - Mobile Phone Systems

• Results ?
• The only way to make a man trustworthy is to
  trust him Henry L Stimson
• A man who trusts nobody is apt to be the kind of
  man nobody trusts Harold Macmillan

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