Introduction

Like all good stories, this one started in a pub, in Princeton, NJ, where Ragnar and I first discussed the idea and need for a new conference and edited book dedicated to risk and decision-making under uncertainty in an increasingly “post-truth” world. Indeed, how to effectively manage societal risks and communicate uncertainty to the public about contested scientific evidence—without undermining trust—has proven to be an urgent and highly topical subject with important implications for public policy. Accordingly, the inaugural Risk and Uncertainty Conference (RUC) was held June 12–14, 2017 in Cambridge around the following theme: “trust and evidence-based uncertainty communication in a post-truth society”. The aim of the conference was to bring together world-leading scholars on risk and uncertainty communication to help define and set an agenda for the field. Interest in the conference exceeded our expectations, and we are grateful to all of the attendees and keynote speakers that made the conference a tremendous success, including our sponsors; The Society for Risk Analysis (RSA), The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), The Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, King’s College, London, and Churchill College, Cambridge. This edited volume represents timely and cutting-edge perspectives from our keynote speakers on the issue of risk and uncertainty communication. All contributors to this book occupy highly policy-relevant positions, ranging from the President of the Royal Statistical Society to the Director-General of the UK Statistics Authority to the Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to the Head of Policy at the Royal Society and the former Chief Executive of the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA).