Professor Ragnar Löfstedt

Ragnar E. Löfstedt is Professor of Risk Management and the Director of King’s Centre for Risk Management, where he teaches and conducts research on risk communication and management. 

Previously, he was a Reader in Social Geography at the University of Surrey. He is Adjunct Professor at the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University.

Ragnar earned his BA and MA degrees at University of California Los Angeles (1988) and Clark University (1991), respectively, before completing his PhD in geography at Clark University (1993). After a post-doctorate position at the Risk, Society and Policy Group at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) (Laxenburg, Austria), he joined the University of Surrey as a lecturer in social geography before coming to Kings in 2002. 

Research

• The development of evidence-based health and safety policies
• Risk communication (with a specific focus on the chemical, environment, food, and pharmaceutical areas)
• The role of transparency in policy making
• Evidence-based policy-making in Europe

Ragnar has conducted research in risk communication and management in such areas as renewable energy policy, transboundary environmental issues (acid rain and nuclear power), health and safety, telecommunications, biosafety, pharmaceuticals, and the siting of the building of incinerators, fuel policy, nuclear waste installations and railways.

He is a believer in the building of public trust in regulators and industry via proactive risk communication and argues that high regulatory/industry trust is equivalent to low public perceived risk.

Teaching

Postgraduate

• MSc/MA Risk Analysis (Programme Director)
• 7SSG5123 Risk Communication
• 7SSG5122 Risk Assessment

PhD supervision

Ragnar welcomes future PhD students looking to research in the following areas:

• Better regulation in the European Union
• Better regulation in the UK
• Comparison of present environmental regulatory structures US-UK
• Risk communication in a post trust world
• Implementation of regulations in a post trust world
• Development of risk communication strategies in the new European Union states-lessons of governance
• Developing European Union health and safety regulation

Further details

See Ragnar's research profile