Table 1.
Selected relevant criteria for the evaluation of risk governance tools.
| Criterion | Description/Justification | Selected References |
|---|---|---|
| C1: Uncertainty analysis | Clearly communicating the uncertainty and variability in modeling results through sound uncertainty analysis greatly helps decision-making. It could be otherwise easily misled by overconfident communication of uncertain risk governance results. If uncertainties are large and deeply embedded, more communication will be needed. | [7,15,22,28,29] |
| C2: Structured decision-making | The participation exercise should use/provide appropriate mechanisms for structuring and displaying the decision-making process. | [24] |
| C3: Fair and knowledgeable communication process | Accordingly, the scope of risk communication should be broadened to internalize conflicting issues of concern and decision-makers should deepen their analysis to address the embedding of risk issues in value and lifestyle structures. | [23] |
| C4: Easy to use/understand, user-friendliness | Tools that are easy to use and provide outputs that are easy to assess and do not require specific expertise for their application. Information should be provided clearly to avoid arising misinterpretation. User-friendly tools are particularly relevant for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) as those companies often do not have staff with experience or specific training suited to apply sophisticated protocols or models and understand the outcomes. | [7,15,26] |
| C5: Quantitative information | Quantitative tools estimate numerical values for consequences and their probabilities, in specific units defined when developing the context. However, this requires quantitative input information to function and they cannot be easily applied in data-poor situations, which reduces their overall applicability and thus the available risk information that could be communicated to stakeholders. | [7,15,16,26,30] |
| C6: Documented applications—Trustworthiness | Documented applications are the best way to test a tool, confirm its functionality, and understand its strengths and limitations. Trustworthiness of input or output sources is important. | [7,15,16,30] |
| C7: Transparency of application—process | To make it easy for stakeholders to quickly comprehend how specific data points and decision criteria influence decision-making. The process should be transparent so that the stakeholders can see what is going on and how decisions are being made. | [7,22,24,26] |
| C8: Comprehension | Does the audience understand the content of the communication? Often a neglected aspect in the process of communicating the results of risk governance processes, making it hard for stakeholders to exploit the valuable information that is available from the application of the tools. | [21] |
| C9: Influence on final policy | The output of the procedure should have a genuine impact on policy. | [24] |