Public Perceptions of Risk in Relation to Large Scale Environmental Projects: A Multi-Attribute Decision Making Method

Abstract

Increasingly, societal and public concerns are forcing organizations to take a wider view of engineering design and decision-making and to engage with major projects in a way that they had not anticipated, e.g. Shell and the Brent Spar[l]. Perceptions of trust and decisions about scientific issues are changing and are becoming more empowered and widely publicised scientific uncertainties and disagreements have had a profound impact on public confidence [1, 2, 3]. Engineering design decisions are often made using expertise of design engineers, project managers and external regulatory and advisory authorities. There are not only ethical reasons for the public to be represented but also their perception of the risks may add information and local knowledge to the decision model [2, 4]. Allowing the public to participate in decision making reassures them that the right decisions are being made and allows for greater predictability as their reactions can be assessed much earlier in the design process avoiding any backlash at a later, and costlier, stage [1].