Center for Risk and Security Activities
CRS members undertake research and consulting over a broad range of risk and security issues.
Following is a representative sample of CRS related projects and publications.
CRS at International Symposium on Fire Safety Science - September 21-25, 2008
CRS member Brian Meacham will be presenting a paper on adaptive management in fire regulation and emergency response at the 9th
International Symposium on Fire Safety Science to be held in Karlsruhe, Germany, on 21-25 September 2008 (http://www.iafss.org/html/karlsruhe/home.htm).
Co-authored by Joseph Sarkis, with input and support from other CRS members, the paper explores the applicability of adaptive management
concepts to fire and other emergency response issues, with a focus on fire events.
Abstract: Adaptive management comes from the study of complex adaptive systems. Concepts of adaptive management have begun to be
considered for disaster mitigation and emergency response. It is suggested that fire in buildings is a complex adaptive system, and
therefore subject to adaptive management techniques. This paper outlines the applicability of adaptive concepts to various regulatory,
emergency planning and mitigation issues, with a focus on the application of adaptive management principles to fire regulation,
protection and emergency response planning for buildings.
The full paper will be published in the conference proceedings, which will be available after the symposium.
CRS at the SRA Annual Meeting - December 7-10, 2008
Please join members of the Center for Risk and Security at the 2008 Society for Risk Analysis annual meeting in
Boston, Massachusetts, where we will be hosting a symposium on broadening risk considerations for infrastructure
design (Symposium T4-J). Our symposium will be held from 4:00 PM-5:30 PM in the Hancock Room at the Westin Boston
Waterfront Hotel. We look forward to your participation as we look to expand thinking and applications in this
challenging area.
Symposium T4-J: CRS Perspectives on Broadening Risk Considerations for Infrastructure Design
Recent years have seen a considerable focus on risk assessment and management for critical infrastructure. However,
there remain no 'silver bullets' for gaining widespread agreement on the risks or hazards of concern, the most appropriate
mitigation strategies, and the ever-present resource challenges. In part this is due to lack of a common taxonomy, of
broad stakeholder engagement, and of the availability of risk and decision tools which balance the level of complexity
needed for the problem with the significant uncertainties associated with predicting extreme hazard events. Further
complicating the issue is the aim to become ever more sustainable: a concept that is broadly accepted but for which a
common definition is yet to be widely agreed. The Clark University Center for Risk and Security (CRS) has been exploring
these and related issues for the past five years. The CRS aims to expand the scope of risk assessments to include security
issues, develop methods to evaluate the trade-offs inherent in decisions about security, examine human-response aspects of
planning and design of security programs, and assure that democratic values and institutions are utilized in security planning.
With members from Clark University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the Institute for Resource and Security Studies
(IRSS) and the global engineering firm Arup, the CRS reflects the kind of broad diversity of perspectives needed to challenge
'business as usual' approaches and generate new ways of thinking about the problems. This symposium presents CRS concepts,
findings and challenges in the area of broadening risk considerations for infrastructure design.
T4-J.1 16:00 General resource allocation for security and protection (GRASP): A framework for public administrators
and private managers. Sarkis J*, Azaria C, Ratick S, Meacham B, Thompson G, Goble R; Clark University
T4-J.2 16:20 CRS criteria for testing the applicability of adaptive management concepts to emergency planning and
response: A study case for fire. Meacham BJ*, Sarkis J, Araiza C; Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Clark University,
Claremont Graduate University
T4-J.3 16:40 Application of set cover location modeling and hazard zone sets to site emergency and backup facilities.
Ratick S*, Meacham BJ; Clark University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
T4-J.4 17:00 Multi-criteria frameworks for considering diverse risks in infrastructure design. Thompson G*;
Institute for Resource and Security Studies, and Clark University
* presenting author
Please visit the SRA annual meeting web page for abstracts of the above presentations.
CRS Reports and Discussion Papers
- Thompson, Gordon R.,
Potential Radioactive Releases from Commercial Reactors and Spent Fuel, CRS Discussion Paper 2005-03, Center for Risk and
Security, The George Perkins Marsh Institute, Clark University, June 2005.
- Thompson, Gordon R.,
Designing Infrastructure for New Goals and Constraints, CRS Discussion Paper 2005-02, Center for Risk and
Security, The George Perkins Marsh Institute, Clark University, June 2005.
- Thompson, Gordon R.,
Potential Radioactive Releases from Commercial Reactors and Spent Fuel, CRS Discussion Paper 2005-03, Center for Risk and
Security, The George Perkins Marsh Institute, Clark University, June 2005.
- Thompson, Gordon R.,
Designing Infrastructure for New Goals and Constraints, CRS Discussion Paper 2005-02, Center for Risk and
Security, The George Perkins Marsh Institute, Clark University, June 2005.
- Ove Arup &
Partners Consulting Engineers PC,
Risk and Security for New York City Buildings: Report on a Roundtable
discussion, September 21, 2004.
- Thompson, Gordon R.,
Engaging Stakeholders to Strengthen Homeland Security: An Opportunity in the
Buildings Sector, CRS Discussion Paper 2005-01, Center for Risk and
Security, The George Perkins Marsh Institute, Clark University, January 2005.
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Additional Resources
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Go to CRS's customized page at Google News (updated every minute) for a look at the latest news on homeland security, risk, disasters, etc.
Join CRS at the
2008 SRA Annual Meeting.
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