As the first global study of worry and risk issues, the Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s World Risk Poll, conducted by Gallup in 142 countries, provides one of the most comprehensive global snapshots of people’s perceptions of the threat that issues—such as climate change, water safety, violence, accidents and cyber threats, among others—pose to their countries and themselves. Now researchers at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and USC David and Dana Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences will help major international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) put those findings into action, thanks to a £200,000 grant from Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
The USC research team will be led by USC Price Professor Wändi Bruine de Bruin, who worked collaboratively with the Foundation on development of the 2019 World Risk Poll that surveyed 154,000 adults around the world, along with the Director of the USC Dornsife Public Exchange™ Kate Weber. The USC team will now analyze and use the poll findings to help inform and enhance risk communications and intervention programs for NGOs, helping them to empower communities around the world through education and promotion of a better public understanding of safety and risk issues.
“We created the World Risk Poll to provide data to organizations, communities and individuals to empower them to take meaningful actions and interventions that reduce risk and ultimately saves lives,” said Dr. Sarah Cumbers, Director of the Evidence and Insight Centre at Lloyd’s Register Foundation. “The work being carried out now by USC’s research team is a great example of how the data can be used to drive positive change in risk communication programs.”
“The data collected by the World Risk Poll is unprecedented in its scope and depth, and for the first time provides us with meaningful data on a global scale as to people’s risk perceptions on major issues impacting their lives,” said Bruine de Bruin. “This grant will allow us to put this data into action by helping the world’s humanitarian organizations enhance risk communication programs and interventions on critical life-impacting issues.”
“The World Risk Poll surveyed countries for which we previously had little data,” said Weber. “This research will now be used to effect tangible results in the real world—for governments, international organizations and in partnership with communities working to address risks and make people feel safer.”
Under the grant, the USC research team will develop and carry out a number of program elements, including international outreach workshops, research-into-action briefs, risk-communication checklists, a project website, mentorship, articles and other communication activities.
Lead researcher Wändi Bruine de Bruin is a Provost Professor of Public Policy, Psychology and Behavioral Science at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. She has published more than 125 peer-reviewed publications on the psychology of risk perception and communication, as applied to personal health, sustainability and climate change, as well as household finances.
Kate Weber is the Director of Public Exchange™ at USC Dornsife, a social impact program that fast-tracks collaboration between academic researchers and public and private partners to solve complex problems. She previously worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she developed environmental protection, health, civil society and infrastructure development projects across five countries.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy’s mission is to improve the quality of life for people and their communities, here and abroad. The School achieves this mission through education and research that promote innovative solutions to the most critical issues facing society. For more than 90 years, the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy has earned the public trust by creating path-breaking research and scholarship.
About the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll
The Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll, conducted by Gallup as part of its World Poll, is the first global study of worry and risk across the world. The research provides the first-ever worldwide view of the risks people face, based on interviews with over 150,000 people in 142 countries, including places where little or no official data exists yet where reported risks are often high.
Understanding how people think about risk will allow businesses, regulators, governments and academics to develop policies and actions that will save lives, by making people more aware of the risks they face and how to avoid them. For more information, please visit https://wrp.lrfoundation.org.uk/.
About Lloyd’s Register Foundation
Lloyd’s Register Foundation is an independent global charity that supports research, innovation, and education to make the world a safer place. Its mission is to use the best evidence and insight, such as the World Risk Poll, to help the global community focus on tackling the world’s most pressing safety and risk challenges. For more information, please visit www.lrfoundation.org.uk.