Published works

Efforts to anticipate and mitigate natural hazards have generated a diverse field of natural science that is drawn upon by a wide range of practitioners and decision makers as part of making strategic decisions to anticipate and mitigate natural hazard events. This project asks, Given that uncertainty is an inherent part of scientific practice and method, how do those engaged in risk mitigation manage these scientific uncertainties in their decision-making?

By moving beyond simplistic assumptions that science can be directly translated into policy and practice, we instead analyse how risk professionals and others express and manage differing opinions about the diverse forms of knowledge and uncertainties inherent to mitigation practice – including in terms of their relative influence and changeability – and to investigate how science comes to inform risk mitigation policy and practice. This work supports the capacity of risk management practitioners to explain, justify and discuss mitigation practices to other risk mitigation professionals, the public, the media, and in court and inquiry processes.

The second year of the Scientific Diversity, Scientific Uncertainty And Risk Mitigation Policy And Planning (RMPP) project has been occupied with project development, literature reviews, fieldwork, publication development and end user engagement. Some key activities in this second year include:

• The appointment of Principal Investigator Dr Timothy Neale.
• The completion of two comprehensive literature reviews, one examining scenario exercises and the other examining the forms of scientific uncertainty encountered in bushfire and flood risk mitigation. The project team will use and develop the findings from this work to inform the case studies and other research.
• A journal article published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.
• The scoping of the project’s three case studies of bushfire and/or flood risk mitigation.
• The completion of interviews, a survey and a scenario exercise as part of the Barwon-Otway case study.
• The visit of project team member Associate-Professor Tara McGee from the University of Alberta, Canada.
• The development of end user engagement through a regular newsletter and circulated reports, draft publications and end user meetings.

The RMPP project has developed quickly, thanks to robust engagement with industry and support from end users and the project team. The project is well placed to continue to build on this successful year of research and engagement by developing the second and third case studies and disseminating emerging research results.