On how to understand and acknowledge risk

In Norway two concepts in risk assessment and management - risikoforståelse and risikoerkjennelse - have recently been given much attention, particularly in the oil and gas industry and in societal safety and security contexts. The former concept corresponds quite well to 'risk understanding' but the latter does not have an exact counterpart in English - the best term seems to be 'risk acknowledgement'. The discourse related to these two concepts has given us new general insights concerning the risk concept and its practical use, and the purpose of the present paper is to point to and discuss the main observations made. A main conclusion of the paper is that justified beliefs - what we refer to as knowledge - and the processes of generating these beliefs is an essential feature of both these concepts.