ABSTRACT
This lack of research and institution building is surprising considering transboundary risks are both prevalent and serious throughout the world –
especially in Europe, where a large percentage of the population is located close to a national border. Scandinavia’s largest environmental problem continues to be acid rain, most of which originates in continental Europe (see Chapter 4). Biotechnology and its regulation across European borders and across continents is a transboundary risk issue on both a European and a global scale (see Chapter 3). And decade-long controversies over the risks of border developments – as, for example, in the case of the Gabcikovo dam project – can fuel European ethnic hostilities and greatly complicate European unity (see Chapter 6). Despite the prevalence and seriousness of transboundary risks, most research has focused on local and national environmental risk problems, such as the siting of nuclear waste depositories in Sweden and the United States (e.g., Kunreuther et al., 1990; Drottz-Sjo¨berg, 1996, 1998), the siting of waste incinerators in Austria and the United Kingdom (Linnerooth-Bayer and Fitzgerald, 1996; Lo¨fstedt, 1997), and the public perceptions of nuclear power (e.g., Sjo¨berg, 1999).[1] These local and national risks are comparatively well understood. A large body of interdisciplinary research has shown that factors associated with public and policymaker perceptions are important in their management (Slovic, 1987); that deliberation among the various actors is helpful (Renn, 1999; see also Chapter 9); and that communication among the scientific community, policymakers, and the public is essential (NRC, 1989).
