Ragnar E. Löfstedt (born 1964) is the Professor of Risk Management at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

and the Director of King's Centre for Risk Management (KCRM) and is the President-Elect (2022) of

Society for Risk Analysis The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) is a learned society providing an open forum for anyone interested in risk analysis. SRA seeks to: * Bring together individuals from diverse disciplines and from different countries and provide them opportunit ...

Background

Löfstedt grew up in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to parents who were professors of medieval languages. With

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

nationality, he is also fluent in German. He worked as a lumberjack on the family farm in Sweden before attending UCLA. He has a doctorate from the Graduate School of Geography,

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

, studying with Roger Kasperson (1988-1993). Löfstedt teaches risk analysis at King's College London. Prior to this, he was a reader at the Centre for Environmental Strategy,

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

where he worked with

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

academic David Vogel. Löfstedt also holds adjunct faculty status at Carnegie Mellon university in the US and Gothenburg in Sweden. He was at one time adjunct faculty at the

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

Center for Risk Analysis where he teaches an executive education course.

Personal life

He and his family reside in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. Löfstedt also owns 900 acres of forest in his native Sweden.

Contributions

He has worked mainly on

risk communication Risk communication is a complex cross-disciplinary academic field that is part of risk management and related to fields like crisis communication. The goal is to make sure that targeted audiences understand how risks affect them or their communities ...

and management. Studies have included renewable energy policy, transboundary environmental issues (acid rain and nuclear power), health and safety, telecommunications, biosafety, pharmaceuticals, the siting of waste incinerators, fuel policy, nuclear waste installations and railways. He aim is to strengthen proactive risk communication, arguing that high regulatory/industry trust results in low public perceived risk. Professor Löfstedt was appointed by the UK Coalition Government to look at

occupational safety and health Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work (i.e., while performing duties required by one's occupation). OSH is re ...

and in particular, the

bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

faced by those self-employed whose work activities do not pose a risk to others. The review, officially entitled ''

Reclaiming Health and Safety For All Reclaiming Health and Safety For All also known as the Löfstedt Report is a 2011 report commissioned by the British government to review existing health and safety legislation and its impact upon businesses. The report was written by Ragnar L� ...

'' but often referred to as the ''Löfstedt Report'', was published by the

Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...

in 2011.The Löfstedt review
/ref> Most of his books are edited volumes in the Earthscan Risk Society and Policy series, which he edits. He is currently the editor-in-chief of the ''

Journal of Risk Research The ''Journal of Risk Research'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of risk analysis, communication, judgment, and decision-making. It was established in 1998 and is published by Routledge. The editor-in-chief is Ragn ...

''.

Recognition

*Chauncey Starr Award for exceptional contributions to the field of risk analysis under the age of 40, Society for Risk Analysis (2000) *Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) (2005) *Outstanding Service Award, Society for Risk Analysis (2006)

Publications

*Collier, U, and Löfstedt, R.E. (eds.). 2013. ''Cases in Climate Change Policy. Political Reality in the European Union''. London: Earthscan. *Löfstedt, R.E. 2011.
Reclaiming health and safety for all: an independent review of health and safety legislation
'. London: Stationery Office. (Cm; vol. 8219) *Löfstedt R.E. and Boholm A. (eds.). 2009. ''The Earthscan Reader on Risk''. London: Earthscan. *Löfstedt, R.E. 2005. ''Risk Management in Post-Trust Societies''. London: Palgrave Macmillan. *Boholm A. and R.E. Löfstedt (eds.). 2004. ''Facility Siting: Risk, Power and Identity in Land Use Planning''. London: Earthscan. *Linnerooth-Bayer, J., Löfstedt, R.E. & G. Sjostedt. (eds.) 2001. ''Transboundary Risk Management''. London: Earthscan. *Cvetkovich G. and R.E. Löfstedt (eds.). 1999. ''Social Trust and the Management of Risk''. London: Earthscan. *Löfstedt, R.E. and L. Frewer (eds.). 1997. ''The Earthscan Reader in Risk and Modern Society''. London: Earthscan. *Löftstedt, R.E. and Gunnar Sjöstedt (eds.). 1996. ''Environmental Aid Programmes to Eastern Europe: Area Studies and Theoretical Applications''. Avebury Press. Studies in Green Research. *Löftstedt, R.E. 1993. ''Dilemmas of Swedish Energy Policy: Implications for International Policymakers''. Avebury Press.

References

External links

King's College LondonKing's Centre for Risk Management

Society for Risk Analysis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lofstedt, Ragnar Swedish scholars and academics Living people Academics of the University of London Academics of King's College London Carnegie Mellon University faculty Clark University alumni 1964 births