Ortwin Renn, Ph.D.

Director

Contact:
Phone: +49-(0)711-6858-3970
E-Mail: click here!

Professional Career:

• University education in sociology, economics, and journalism (German diploma in 1978)
• 1980 Ph.D. in Social Psychology (Dr. rer. pol.)
• 1978-1986 social scientist in the Federal Research Center Juelich (Germany)
• 1986-1992 Associate Professor of Environment, Technology, and Society at Clark University (Massachusetts)
• 1988-1990 Acting Director of the Center for Technology, Environment and Development (CENTED) at Clark University
• 1992-1993 Visiting Professor of Environmental Sciences at the Swiss Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland)
• 1993-2003 Member (from 1999-2003 Chair) of the Board of Directors at the Center of Technology Assessment in Stuttgart (Germany)
• Since 1994: Full Professor and Chair of Environmental Sociology and Technology Assessment at Stuttgart University (Germany)
• Since 2003: Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Unit on Risk, Governance and Sustainable Technology Development at  Stuttgart University (ZIRN) (www.zirn-info.de)
• Since 2004: Director of the non-profit company DIALOGIK, a research institute for investigating communication and participation processes in environmental policy making
• Since 2007: Adjunct professor of “integrated risk analysis” at Stavanger University (Norway)
• Since 2009: Honorary Professor at the Harbin Institute of Technology and the Normal University of Beijing (China)

Chair of Committees or Commissions:  

• President of the GAIA Association (Co-editor of the Journal GAIA)
• Chair: Board of Trustees (Foundation: ”Environment and Disaster Prevention”)
• Chair: State Commission for Sustainable Development
• Chair: Commission „Risk Perception and Communication“ of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin

Academic Affiliations and Public Service:

• Senate of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (Berlin)
• Management Board of the German National Academy of Technology and Science “ACATECH” (Munich and Berlin)
• European Academy of Science and Arts (Vienna and Salzburg)
• National Academy of Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China (Beijing)
• Scientific and Technical Council of the International Risk Governance Council, Geneva, Switzerland
• Risk Communication Advisory Committee of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma, Italy
• State Commission for Consumer Protection, Stuttgart, Germany
• Environmental Council of the Protestant Church in Württemberg, Stuttgart (Germany)
• Commission for Societal and Social Affairs of the German Catholic Bishops Conference

Former Academic and Public Services:

• 1994-1998: Member of the Federal Council for Global Environmental Change  (WBGU)
• 1996-1997:  President of the European Society for Risk Analysis (SRA-Europe)
• 2000 -2003: Chair of the Federal Commission for the Harmonization of Risk Standards
• 2005-2008: Expert Panel on “Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making” of the US-National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. (USA)
• 2011: Member of the German Federal Government’s “Commission on Energy Ethics”

Awards:

• Honorary Doctorate (Dr. sc. tech. h.c.) from the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH) Zuerich
• "Distinguished Achievement Award" of the Society for Risk Analysis
• "Fellow" of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• "Fellow" of the International Society for Risk Analysis
• Outstanding Publication Award from the Environment and Technology Section of the American Sociological Association in the year 2002 for the book “Risk, Uncertainty and Rational Action” with co-authors C. Jaeger, G. Rosa and Th. Webler

Professional Interests:

• Sociology of technology and the environment
• Risk regulation, risk management, risk communication
• Public participation
• Technology assessment and foresight
• Modernization and attitudes toward technology
• Public understanding of science

Publications:

• More than 30 book publications and 250 articles in journals and edited volumes
• Most prominent monograph:  “Risk Governance. Coping with uncertainty in a complex world” (London: Earthscan 2008)

Publications: click here!

Privat homepage: http://ortwin.gingedas.net/

© 2004 Dialogik :: Imprint :: Contact :: Last updated: 19-Jul-11