The EPFL International Risk Governance Center (IRGC) is an interdisciplinary unit dedicated to extending knowledge about the increasingly complex, uncertain and ambiguous risks that affect society. We develop risk governance strategies that focus on involving all key stakeholder groups, including citizens, governments, businesses and academia.
Our work is rooted in the IRGC Risk Governance Framework, as well as subsequent frameworks that we developed to apply more specifically to the governance of emerging and systemic risks. We assess how these frameworks can be applied to a wide range of specific risk domains, and in recent years we have focused increasingly on risks associated with emerging technologies.
The following are among the areas we are currently working on:
- Climate engineering
- Digital technology and governance (TRIGGER H2020)
- Deepfakes
- Low-carbon transition risks
- Precision medicine
- Space debris
- Synthetic biology
- Nanotechnology (NANORIGO H2020)
- Resilience
To learn more about our work, you can read our annual reports from 2016-2020.
News and current activities
New report on collision risk from space debris
In our latest report, we characterise the collision risk posed by space debris, explain the current response strategy and offer a range of possible new management strategies.
EPFL works to address debris collision risk
Read about our collaborative project with EPFL’s eSpace and Space Innovation centres studying the governance of risks related to space debris.
IRGC News
Read the latest news, insights, presentations and media coverage about the EPFL International Risk Governance Center.
Key links
Concepts and frameworks
At the core of IRGC work is a series of governance frameworks, which provide guidance in areas such as risk assessment, emerging and systemic risks, and resilience-building.
Specific risk domains
With a view to filling risk-governance deficits in important sectors, IRGC regularly convenes interdisciplinary expert groups to identify key risks and possible responses.
Publications
IRGC produces a wide range of publications, covering both our overarching governance frameworks as well as the outcomes of our work in specific risk domains.
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