Abstrakt:
There is literally no single source of energy which does not cause social protests against
its use – no matter if it is the old nuclear energy or modern wind turbines. A conventional
explanation of those conflicts points out to the misunderstanding and wrong assessment
of risk related to energy technologies by lay people. However, as the research on social
perception of risk shows, the problem is not the lack of knowledge of lay people, but
negligence of their perspective by decision makers, which results in ineffective risk communication
strategies. The goal of this article is to sum up the main findings of research
on social perception of risk and their impact on conflict management strategies.
