Focal Report 9: Visualizing Risk

Abstract

This report first introduces the concept of risk diagrams (in a broad sense). Different examples then illustrate how the design of risk diagrams influences the amount of information that can be communicated in diagrams and the information's usefulness for the public. In the third section, the special form of geographical risk maps is assessed. The report discusses traditional types of risk maps as well as new types of crowdsourced risk maps. In the final section, it draws conclusions and explores the implications for Switzerland.