Title: Editorial: Inclusive governance, changing science-policy relations and multi level decision making in the enlarged EU

Authors: Matthieu Craye, Silvio Funtowicz

Addresses: European Commission DG Joint Research Centre, Via Fermi, I-21020 Ispra, Italy. ' European Commission DG Joint Research Centre, Via Fermi, I-21020 Ispra, Italy

Abstract: To respond to a perceived trust crisis related to the management of risks, the concept of inclusive governance has been developed, including a reflection on relevant knowledge and expertise. It strives to consider a wider range of issue aspects and dimensions, as well as to involve a larger set of actors in the decision making or supporting processes. Policy making on risks and emerging technologies, including initiatives towards inclusion, show a mix of institutional and procedural inventiveness and of reproducing familiar ways of coping with hazards, based on a modern model of science-policy relations. In EU decision making, such tensions between tradition and innovation are interwoven with finding a balance between acknowledging Europe|s diversity and developing integrated European policies. In this respect, the European Union|s enlargement process, which resulted in a Union that is now a diverse entity in many key characteristics, works as a challenge multiplier.

Keywords: inclusive governance; science-policy relations; risks; technologies; European Union; EU decision making; enlargement; diversity; trust; risk management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRAM.2009.024126

International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management, 2009 Vol.12 No.1, pp.1 - 13

Published online: 26 Mar 2009 *

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