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RA Risk AcademyNXS Learning RAN-307 Policy and Governance Module 2 of 6 · 11 h 41 min left My learning

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Module 1 · Lesson · 45 min

The IRGC risk governance framework

  • LO1

Glossary of this course

Access to remedy
The ability of those harmed to obtain redress, such as compensation, repair or a change in practice, through a fair process. Accountability, transparency and inclusion
Accountability
A relationship in which an actor must explain and justify conduct to a forum, which can question it and impose consequences. What is risk governance?
Adaptation pathway
A sequence of actions linked by decision points that are triggered by monitored conditions, so that commitments are made as late as sensible. Adaptive governance and learning
Adaptive governance
Governance that is designed to change in response to monitoring, learning and new conditions, with decisions that can be revised. Adaptive governance and learning
After-action review
A structured review shortly after an event that asks what was intended, what happened, why, and what to do differently. Adaptive governance and learning
ALARP
As low as reasonably practicable, a principle under which a tolerable risk must be reduced until the cost of further reduction is grossly disproportionate to its benefit. The IRGC risk governance framework
Ambiguity
A situation in which the same evidence can be interpreted in different ways because people hold different values or frames. The IRGC risk governance framework
Appraisal
Building the knowledge base through a scientific risk assessment and a concern assessment of how people perceive and are affected by the risk. The IRGC risk governance framework
Benefit sharing
An arrangement in which those who gain from cooperation compensate those who bear its costs, so that all prefer to take part. Multi-level and transboundary governance
Characterisation and evaluation
Judging whether the risk is acceptable, tolerable with reduction measures, or intolerable. The IRGC risk governance framework
Compliance
Behaviour that conforms to a rule, whether out of conviction, cost, fear of sanction or habit. Enforcement and compliance
Composite example
An example built from typical features of real cases, with invented details, clearly labelled as such. Practicum briefing and governance review template
Concern assessment
Analysis of the perceptions, values, social and economic concerns of stakeholders and the public about a risk. The IRGC risk governance framework
Contribution analysis
An approach that builds and tests a case that a policy contributed to an outcome when a comparison group is not available. Evaluating risk policy
Counterfactual
What would have happened without the policy, which can never be observed directly and must be estimated. Evaluating risk policy
Dedicated budget line
Money set aside in law or regulation for a stated purpose, so that it does not depend on annual negotiation. Institutional arrangements and coordination
Deterrence
Compliance produced by the expectation of a penalty that outweighs the gain from breaking the rule. Enforcement and compliance
Difference-in-differences
A method that estimates a policy effect by comparing the change over time in a treated group with the change in a comparison group. Evaluating risk policy
Double-loop learning
Questioning and changing the goals, assumptions or rules that produced the error. Adaptive governance and learning
Economic instrument
A tool that changes costs or benefits, such as a tax, subsidy, insurance premium or tradable permit. Policy instruments
Enforcement pyramid
Ayres and Braithwaite's model in which a regulator starts with persuasion and escalates through warnings and penalties to licence withdrawal only when needed. Enforcement and compliance
Expected penalty
The probability of being detected and sanctioned multiplied by the size of the penalty. Enforcement and compliance
Free, prior and informed consent
The principle that certain groups, especially indigenous peoples, may give or withhold consent to projects affecting their land before they proceed. Accountability, transparency and inclusion
Governance review
The short written document this practicum asks you to produce, diagnosing how a risk is governed and recommending a few specific changes. Practicum briefing and governance review template
Impact tolerance
The maximum disruption that an organisation or service can accept, for example the longest outage a hospital can bear. The Nexus lens: governing risks that cross sectors
Indicator
A measure used to track a stage of the chain, such as the share of households receiving a warning. Evaluating risk policy
Institutional arrangement
The pattern of organisations, mandates, funding and coordination mechanisms through which a risk is handled. Institutional arrangements and coordination
Instrument
A tool that a government or other actor uses to influence behaviour, such as a rule, a payment, information or direct provision. What is risk governance?
Joint commission
A standing body created by treaty to manage a shared resource or risk, often with a technical secretariat. Multi-level and transboundary governance
Lead agency
An organisation given the authority and resources to direct others on a given task, as distinct from a body that only convenes. Institutional arrangements and coordination
Logic model
A simple diagram of inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impact that shows the chain of a theory of change. Evaluating risk policy
Mandate
The legal or formal authority and responsibility given to an institution. What is risk governance?
Moral hazard
A change in behaviour when someone is protected from the consequences of a risk, such as building in a floodplain because disaster aid will arrive. Policy instruments
Multi-level governance
The sharing of authority and responsibility among levels of government, from local to international, and with non-state actors. Multi-level and transboundary governance
Natural frequencies
A way of expressing probabilities as counts out of a stated number of cases, such as 3 in 1,000, which people usually understand better than percentages. Risk perception, evidence and the science-policy interface
Nexus-Based Risk Management (NRM)
The encompassing discipline for identifying, analysing, governing and learning from risks that arise from interdependencies between entities, sectors, systems, territories and Earth-system processes, nesting entity-level risk management inside a wider frame. The Nexus lens: governing risks that cross sectors
Nodality
In Hood's framework, the government's position at the centre of information networks, which lets it collect and spread information. Policy instruments
Notification and consultation
Obligations to inform neighbours of planned actions and to hear their concerns before proceeding. Multi-level and transboundary governance
Participation
The involvement of those affected by a decision in making it, at a depth that ranges from being informed to holding power. Accountability, transparency and inclusion
Policy instrument
A tool that governments or other actors use to influence behaviour or to provide protection, such as a rule, a payment, information or direct provision. Policy instruments
Policy mix
The combination of instruments used together for one aim, whose effect depends on how they interact. Policy instruments
Polycentric governance
A system with many centres of decision making, formally independent but interacting through competition, cooperation and conflict resolution. Multi-level and transboundary governance
Pre-assessment
Framing the problem, screening for early signals, and agreeing the conventions and indicators to be used. The IRGC risk governance framework
Precautionary principle
The idea that lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason to postpone cost-effective measures to prevent serious or irreversible harm. Risk perception, evidence and the science-policy interface
Reassurance
A communication strategy that aims to calm people rather than to inform them, and that can destroy trust when the underlying risk is later revealed to be larger. Risk perception, evidence and the science-policy interface
Recommendation
A specific change with a named owner, a cost, a date and a way to tell whether it worked. Practicum briefing and governance review template
Regret
The extra cost of a decision compared with the best decision in hindsight for a scenario that actually occurs. Adaptive governance and learning
Regulation
A binding rule backed by sanctions, such as a building code or a ban on construction in a floodway. Policy instruments
Regulatory capture
A situation in which a regulator comes to serve the interests of those it regulates instead of the public interest. Enforcement and compliance
Response risk
Risk created by a measure taken to reduce another risk, such as shedding load in one place that cuts power to a water pump. The Nexus lens: governing risks that cross sectors
Return period
The average time between events of a given size, so that a 1-in-100-year flood has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any one year. Risk perception, evidence and the science-policy interface
Risk governance
The totality of actors, rules, conventions, processes and mechanisms concerned with how risk information is collected, analysed and communicated, and how management decisions are taken. What is risk governance?
Risk management
Coordinated activities to direct and control an organisation or system with regard to risk, as described in ISO 31000. What is risk governance?
Risk perception
People's subjective judgement of the likelihood and seriousness of a risk, shaped by experience, values, trust and the way the risk is presented. Risk perception, evidence and the science-policy interface
Scenario pack
A set of agreed cross-sector scenarios that entities test in their own continuity and stress programmes. The Nexus lens: governing risks that cross sectors
Science-policy interface
The arrangements by which scientific evidence is gathered, synthesised and communicated to those who make decisions, and by which their questions reach scientists. Risk perception, evidence and the science-policy interface
Shared exposure
Exposure held jointly by several organisations or sectors through a common dependency, such as a grid or a pipeline. The Nexus lens: governing risks that cross sectors
Single point of failure
A component whose failure stops the whole arrangement, such as one data platform that every agency uses. Institutional arrangements and coordination
Single-loop learning
Correcting an error within existing goals and rules, such as replacing a failed part or adding an inspection. Adaptive governance and learning
Stakeholder
A person or organisation that can affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision about risk. What is risk governance?
Standing mechanism
A coordination structure that exists and meets between emergencies, as opposed to one assembled when a crisis begins. Institutional arrangements and coordination
Subsidiarity
The principle that decisions should be taken at the lowest level of government that can handle them effectively. Institutional arrangements and coordination
Systemic risk notice
A message from the shared layer to an entity that a risk arising from interdependency should be added to its own register. The Nexus lens: governing risks that cross sectors
Theory of change
A causal account of how a policy's activities are expected to produce its intended results, with the assumptions behind each step. Evaluating risk policy
Third-party verification
Checking of compliance by an independent body, such as an auditor, instead of by the regulator itself. Enforcement and compliance
Transboundary risk
A risk whose causes or effects cross administrative or national borders. Multi-level and transboundary governance
Transparency
The availability of information about decisions and their basis, so that others can scrutinise them. Accountability, transparency and inclusion
Weak link
The single component, such as a data provider, a mandate gap or a funding line, whose failure would stop the arrangement from working. Practicum briefing and governance review template
Whistleblower
A person who reports wrongdoing or danger within an organisation, and who needs legal protection from retaliation. Accountability, transparency and inclusion

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