Making decisions under uncertainty and time pressure

Our main objectives are to establish an interdisciplinary network on transformative aspects of uncertainty management, and to work out a full-scale KLIMAFORSK proposal. Instead of focusing on uncertainties embedded in climatic changes and their consequenc es for society, we will focus on how to act given such uncertainties. Furthermore, our project initiative rests on the assumption that time is scarce. We aim at providing better knowledge about acting under conditions when the two aspects uncertainty and time pressure come together. Through a thematic innovative design, we will gain insights from previous situations where humanity has been forced to act quickly and make decisions under great uncertainty. Cases could be measures taken against pandemic dise ases, ozone depletion, and over-exploitation of marine resources. The main project will address the following questions: (1) To which extent can experience from management of other crises improve decision support in climate policy? (2) What mechanisms, b oth at individual and system level, seem to enhance and restrain our ability to make decisions under uncertainty and time pressure? (3) How can scientific knowledge about an emerging crisis effectively be translated into policy decisions and public action ? (4) What determines public support for policy measures in the case of large decisions under large uncertainties and with existential values at stake? Activities in the pre-project will be to identify and assess comparison cases, establish consortium, a rrange workshop, and prepare full-scale proposal. The theoretical approach will be interdisciplinary, and draw on psychology, decision theory, risk management, environmental policy research and planning theory. Our approach is innovative in that we focus on psychological processes and their combination and interplay with political and structural conditions for climate mitigation and adaptation.