The project: Social Risks

Today many resources are put into technological risk management, security systems, control and surveillance, but without knowledge of the the human factor no system can be safe. That is why the project Social Risks is necessary to increase the knowledge about how an individual feels and acts when it comes to risks of a social character.

What is a social risk? It is the probability for an unwanted event to occur or the consequences if the event occurs. A social risk has its roots in socio-cultural and socio-economic conditions. In the worst case, it can result in serious consequences for people, fundamental social functions and trust, security, democracy and human rights. The project Social Risks is run by the County Administration Board in the Swedish Södra Götaland together with the County Council Västra Götalandsregionen and the Malmö University.The objective is to increase the knowledge of risks of a social character and to work for integration of the social persp ective in a sustainable development. But the project must be carried out on the local level, as well.

Nacka is one of the three pilot municipalities that will work for the implementation of social risks in the work with municipal risk- and vulnerability analyses and contingency planning. At the same time Nacka's objective is to increase the knowledge of the social risks and the factors behind them. Increased knowledge and analyses will give us better possibilities of preparing ourselves to deal with different problems when they occur in the case we haven't been able to prevent them.

To make the analysis possible, as well as to make reasonable comparisons, it is necessary to create a number of indicators which are applicable on different local conditions. This is only an example of some 30 indicators that Nacka has identified: the number of unemployed adolescents and young people, children with difficult childhood and adolescence, people not taking an active part in society, feeling of being an outsider, low confidence in society's actions, people addicted to alcohol and drugs, pupils who abuse drugs, violent crimes, cultural clashes (not only ethnic clashes).

More knowledge of differences between individuals and groups can improve the risk management to reduce the number of people affected and exposed. To get there, many actors in the society, from scientists to representatives from authorities and municipalities, from practitioners to the public, must become aware of those differences. Because of that the project Social Risks is very important, to try to find indicators and risk factors of a social character with individuals in Nacka.