Behavioural Science and Systemic Risk Weekly Summer Sessions

I will be working on a weekly session with UCD MSc Behavioural Economics students this summer on behavioural science and national risk. Partly inspired by the discussions around the role of behavioural science in covid policy response, this session will explore the role of behavioural science in response to major national and international risks. The sessions will take place weekly over zoom and address a number of topics from a behavioural science perspective. I will use this post to keep track of interesting readings and points being addressed during the sessions. The sessions will mostly consist of six students and researchers discussing key articles in areas like pandemic response, financial crises, climate change, and other major risk areas.  A rough outline of the session is below and I would be happy to discuss this with readers who are interested as we progress.

a. Students begin by reading the Irish national risk register (https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/ac294e-government-publishes-top-strategic-risks-facing-ireland/).  Students are not restricted to the issues in the register and they may also choose to take international perspectives or propose any topic within the broad remit of the discussions. 

b. Students chose an area from the risk register or their own alternative and write a brief background report (1k words or so) on behavioural issues associated with the risk 

c. Students develop a googledoc resources page cataloguing relevant literature including policy reports, agencies working on this area, relevant literature 

d. Students develop a report (circa 5k words) outlining the main behavioural issues associated with the risk, what capacities would be needed in different scenarios, and draw conclusions on how policy could make the country more prepared for different types of risks. 

e. In weekly zoom sessions, they would discuss with me and one another the key issues across the different areas and look for points of comparison and contrast. 

f. The summer would conclude with a final report and short presentation of findings. Relevant stakeholders who work with the research group would be invited to discuss the findings.