Researcher Highlights
Socio-environmental Impacts Considered in Risk Management
Associate Professor Kala Saravanamuthu
Dr Kala Saravanamuthu's primary area of research is in developing holistic and emancipatory accountability and decision-making tools that create change from the conventional pursuit of economic returns to more sustainable interaction with nature.
Dr Saravanamuthu has recently developed software that constructs Integrated Risk Assessments which assimilate socio-environmental attributes of how economic developments impact on a local catchment. The software relies on competing stakeholders and experts identifying socio-environmental attributes relevant to a particular catchment, and then suggesting a risk profile for each attribute. The software uses semi-qualitative risk language to combine these indicators into integrated, visual accounts. These two steps are repeated iteratively until all stakeholders agree to the risk profile generated.
The semi-qualitative risk language Dr Saravanamuthu's assessment employs accounts for the complexities and uncertainties not reflected in conventional assessments such as Cost-Benefit Analysis.
This software benefits all participating stakeholders involved in the construction of integrated risk assessments including investors, growers, industrialists and developers. Opinions of the local community can easily be acknowledged in an open process. As the process is transparent, regulators can use the assessment for their evaluation and technical experts can communicate the real-world relevance of their work to non-experts.
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.