Managing Risks in a Risk Society
Below we have presented a word-cloud where we have extracted some of the essential substantial words from one of the big conferences to come: The Unconventional Gas Conference. Among the attendees are numerous oil and gas companies which will be discussing, among other things, how to mitigate environmental concerns, how to tackle public misconceptions and reducing health and environmental risks in relation to hydraulic fracturing. Also a number of scientific institutions are involved, although to a lesser extent, presenting what is called "the untanglement of fact from fiction" also pertaining hydraulic fracturing. A lot of interesting words occur in the word-cloud below, most prominent are words such as: "Public", "Environmental", and "Risks", however, a lot of other words appear and is of great interest.
This conference should give an indicative notion about the themes, subjects and discussions that should be present in multiple conferences across the globe, which some of our actors will attend, namely our "Science", "Governmental", and "Company" actor groups. The Unconventional Gas Conference will be held on September 25, 2012 in London. Please note, that this conference has been selectively chosen from a variety of other big conferences, but serves as kind of representative for some of the other conferences, meetings and congresses about hydraulic fracturing.
Some of the central themes and questions for the Unconventional Gas Conference are:
1) Tackling Misinformation Around The Environmental & Human Health Risks Associated With Hydraulic Fracturing
2) A Local Battle – Winning Hearts & Minds & Proactively Educating Communities To Build Trust & Minimise Opposition To Local Projects
3) Mitigating Public Backlash & Mobilising Public Opinion By Clarifying Misconceptions & Cutting Through Public Fear
4) How Can We Join Together With A Unified Voice To Start To Proactively Educate & Engage?5) How Can We Best Address Water Contamination, Treatment & Disposal Concerns?
5) Propaganda, Media Today & The Climate Change Debate: From Misinformed Citizen Journalists
Blogging To Professional Journalists Looking For A Story, To Powerful Environmental Lobbying Groups, How Should The Industry Respond?
Especially what happens at 10.20 is of great importance, when exemplifying practical risk management.
"Engaging Local Communities10.20 A Local Battle – Winning Hearts & Minds & Proactively Educating Communities To Build Trust & Minimise Opposition To Local Projects
Click the link to learn more about the conference. Also, browse through the different themes and subjects to get an overview of the situation.
Source: http://www.unconventionalgasconference.com/programme
So, "Public" is surely of great concern for the companies, mostly concentrating about mitigating the fear and concern of hydraulic fracturing posed by the Public. Crudely, we could call it the "The Industrial Construction of the Public" which connotes the way in which the Industry (oil and gas companies) objectify, mold and construct the "public". In accordance with the overall theme of the conference the risks presented, or chosen, by the Industry are mainly the public and environmental matters, which means they seek to mitigate, reduce, and hopefully eliminate public speculation (and potential opposition to) about the effects of hydraulic fracturing on environment, health, and biological welfare. The public is not clearly defined, i.e. it is not explicated what the public includes, what kind of people, organizations, communities etc. are the public? - However, the public, according to the conference thought, is something that has to be engaged by clarifying misconceptions, altering public opinion, and fostering public understanding and tolerance for hydraulic fracturing. In a way, the goal of this conference is to obtain trust and credibility in the eyes of the public, which has become a key factor in the public understanding of scientific messages and practices (Wynne 1992:20). Furthermore, we suspect, it is a way for the oil and gas companies to systematically manage risks in what Ulrich Beck has called Risk Society : a term for a modern world constantly engaged with potential hazards, risks and insecurities (Beck 1992, 1996).
This conference should give an indicative notion about the themes, subjects and discussions that should be present in multiple conferences across the globe, which some of our actors will attend, namely our "Science", "Governmental", and "Company" actor groups. The Unconventional Gas Conference will be held on September 25, 2012 in London. Please note, that this conference has been selectively chosen from a variety of other big conferences, but serves as kind of representative for some of the other conferences, meetings and congresses about hydraulic fracturing.
Some of the central themes and questions for the Unconventional Gas Conference are:
1) Tackling Misinformation Around The Environmental & Human Health Risks Associated With Hydraulic Fracturing
2) A Local Battle – Winning Hearts & Minds & Proactively Educating Communities To Build Trust & Minimise Opposition To Local Projects
3) Mitigating Public Backlash & Mobilising Public Opinion By Clarifying Misconceptions & Cutting Through Public Fear
4) How Can We Join Together With A Unified Voice To Start To Proactively Educate & Engage?5) How Can We Best Address Water Contamination, Treatment & Disposal Concerns?
5) Propaganda, Media Today & The Climate Change Debate: From Misinformed Citizen Journalists
Blogging To Professional Journalists Looking For A Story, To Powerful Environmental Lobbying Groups, How Should The Industry Respond?
Especially what happens at 10.20 is of great importance, when exemplifying practical risk management.
"Engaging Local Communities10.20 A Local Battle – Winning Hearts & Minds & Proactively Educating Communities To Build Trust & Minimise Opposition To Local Projects
- Dispelling myths with open and transparent communication strategies from town hall meetings to site tours to newsletters and community events
- Understanding the importance of engaging with a local community early on and building relationships – meeting face-to-face and solving problems, not preaching from a pulpit
- Helping communities understand what it looks like in reality – from blue flares, to fields of massive riggs forever blighting the landscape, to armies of noisy trucks and pipes everywhere – explaining the real visual impact of surface infrastructure with likely timescales and ongoing maintenance issues
- How do you combat the not-in-my-backyard syndrome?"
Click the link to learn more about the conference. Also, browse through the different themes and subjects to get an overview of the situation.
Source: http://www.unconventionalgasconference.com/programme
So, "Public" is surely of great concern for the companies, mostly concentrating about mitigating the fear and concern of hydraulic fracturing posed by the Public. Crudely, we could call it the "The Industrial Construction of the Public" which connotes the way in which the Industry (oil and gas companies) objectify, mold and construct the "public". In accordance with the overall theme of the conference the risks presented, or chosen, by the Industry are mainly the public and environmental matters, which means they seek to mitigate, reduce, and hopefully eliminate public speculation (and potential opposition to) about the effects of hydraulic fracturing on environment, health, and biological welfare. The public is not clearly defined, i.e. it is not explicated what the public includes, what kind of people, organizations, communities etc. are the public? - However, the public, according to the conference thought, is something that has to be engaged by clarifying misconceptions, altering public opinion, and fostering public understanding and tolerance for hydraulic fracturing. In a way, the goal of this conference is to obtain trust and credibility in the eyes of the public, which has become a key factor in the public understanding of scientific messages and practices (Wynne 1992:20). Furthermore, we suspect, it is a way for the oil and gas companies to systematically manage risks in what Ulrich Beck has called Risk Society : a term for a modern world constantly engaged with potential hazards, risks and insecurities (Beck 1992, 1996).
Below we have presented an interactive word-tree from which you are able to search through different words of your own choosing. By typing different keywords into the search field you will be able to see the context in which occur. Feel free to browse through some words, suggestions would be: "Public", "risks", "environmental", "communicating" or "proactively" etc. Perhaps you can find some other, or alternative, conclusions to our analysis formulated above.
Below you are redirected to the danish debate, including a tag-cloud where two main Danish actors words to describe hydraulic fracturing are analyzed. Is the webpage "skifergas.dk" a Danish example of TOTAL and Nordsøefondens risk management. Judge for yourself!!