Risk Management in a Complex World:
The Fourth Transatlantic Dialogue on Precaution

19 to 21 September 2004
R. David Thomas Conference Center, Duke University
Durham NC, USA

Organized by the Duke Center for Environmental Solutions,
the European Commission, and The German Marshall Fund - US

Sunday 19 September 2004

12:30 Lunch

14:00 Welcomes (2:00 pm)
William H. Schlesinger, Dean, Nicholas School of the Environment & Earth Sciences, Duke University
Jonathan Wiener, Duke University
Michael Rogers, European Commission / GOPA

14:15 Keynote Addresses (2:15 pm)
Chair: Phillip Henderson, Vice President, German Marshall Fund-US
Keynote Address: Hon. John D. Graham, Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), US Office of
Management & Budget
Keynote Address: Hon. Geoffrey Podger, Executive Director, European Food Safety Authority

Back to Top 15:30 Break (3:30 pm)

15:55 The Reality of Precaution Project (3:55 pm)
Chair & Discussant: Judith Kelley, Duke University
Speakers: Michael Rogers, European Commission / GOPA and Jonathan Wiener, Duke University
Discussion

16:55 Quantitative Analysis of Relative Precaution (4:55 pm)
Chair & Discussant: Norman Vig, Carleton College
Speaker: James Hammitt, Harvard University
Discussant: Pete Andrews, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Monday 20 September 2004

08.30 CHAIR (am) Stanley Crossick, European Policy Centre (EPC), Brussels

Case Studies on Specific Risks
Each draft chapter will have been circulated to the group in advance. Each session will begin with a brief (5 minute) overview by the author, followed by brief (5 minute) comments by the discussant. The floor with then be open for 20 minutes of group discussion of the draft chapter.

08:35 Case Study: Marine Environment
Authors: David Freestone, World Bank
Discussant: Michael Orbach, Marine Lab Director, Duke University

09:10 Case Study: Biodiversity
Author: Kathryn Saterson, Duke Center for Environmental Solutions
Discussant: Rosie Cooney, Fauna and Flora International

09:45 Case Study: Terrorism & WMD
Authors: Jessica Stern, Harvard University and Jonathan Wiener, Duke University
Discussant: Peter Feaver, Duke University

Back to Top 10:20 Break

10:40 Case Study: Ozone Depletion and Climate Change
Author: James Hammitt, Harvard University
Discussant: Andreas Kraemer, Ecologic, Berlin

11:15 Case Study: Medical Errors, Adverse Drug Reactions, and Patient Safety
Author: Frances Miller, Boston University Law School
Discussant: Ragnar Lofstedt, Kings College, London

12:00 Lunch

13.30 CHAIR (pm) James Hammitt, Harvard University (1:30 pm)

13:35 Case Study: Health Supplements (1:35 pm)
Moderator: Michael Knowles, Coca Cola
Speaker: John Hathcock, Council for Responsible Nutrition, Washington (former US FDA) and
Hildegard Przyrembel, Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Germany

14:10 Case Study: Genetically Modified Foods (2:10pm)
Authors: Maurice Lex, European Commission
Discussant: David Vogel, UC - Berkeley

14:45 Case Study: Nuclear Energy (2:10 pm)
Author: John Ahearne, Sigma Xi Research Ethics Program, Duke University &
former Chair, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Discussant: Wolfgang Kröger, Founding Rector, International Risk Governance Institute, Geneva

Back to Top 15:20 Break (3:20 pm)

15:50 Risk Analysis Methods (3:50 pm)
Authors: Gail Charnley, HealthRisk Strategies and Michael Rogers, European Commission / GOPA
Discussants: Alessandro Damiani, Minister-Counselor, Head of Science, Technology and Education, Delegation of the European Commission and
Leslie Hushka, Regulatory Affairs, ExxonMobil Corporation

16:35 Break -- Prepare for Bus trip to Duke Forest and dinner

17:10 Meet for bus in Thomas Center's Lobby for Field trip to FACE carbon sequestration (5:10pm) study site in Duke Forest, led by Dean William Schlesinger, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences

19:00 Drinks and Dinner following the field trip hosted by the European Commission (7:00 pm)
at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill

Tuesday 21 September 2004

08.30 CHAIR (am) Peter Sand, University of Munich 5

Cross-Cutting Themes

08:35 Political Systems
Author: Giandomenico Majone, European University Institute, Florence
Discussants: C. Boyden Gray, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
and Rudolf Strohmeier, European Commission / Secretariat General (pending)

09:10 Legal Systems - including Tort Law and Executive &
Judicial Regulatory Review of Regulation
Author: Lucas Bergkamp, Erasmus University and Hunton & Williams and
Turner T. Smith, Hunton & Williams
Discussants: Nicolas de Sadeleer, University of Oslo
E. Donald Elliott, Yale University

9:55 Information Disclosure Systems
Author: Peter Sand, University of Munich
Discussant: James Hamilton, Duke University

Back to Top 10:25 Break

11:00 Observations and Conclusions: The Changing Dynamics of Precaution in the US and Europe
Chair: Bruce Jentleson, Director, Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University
Speakers: David Vogel, U.C. Berkeley
Ragnar Lofstedt, King's College London
Michael Rogers, European Commission
Jonathan Wiener, Duke University
Discussion

12:30 Lunch

14:00 Adjourn (2:00 pm)

Back to Top

Last Update: December 16, 2004