BfR Annual Report 2015

BfR

Annual Report 2015

At the BfR, there is a separate department for risk communication which informs the general public about

possible health risks and the research results which form the basis for this assessment. The BfR enters

into the dialogue with the various target groups through measures involving classical press and PR work,

as well as through events such as expert panels, consumer protection forums, conferences and public

symposiums. In addition to this, research projects on the perception and early recognition of risks and

estimation of their consequences are conducted in the department with its interdisciplinary structure. The

prevention and coordination of crises is another task of the Risk Communication department, which receives

external know-how through the “Risk Research and Risk Perception” Committee. In this interview, depart-

ment head PD Dr. Gaby-Fleur Böl talks about the day-to-day work of the department.

Risk Communication

What is the professional background of the employees

in your department?

The Risk Communication department is probably the

most interdisciplinary department of all at the BfR. We

have a staff of 50 employees who have studied widely

varying subjects, such as Biology, Chemistry, Medicine,

but also Psychology, Politics or Social Science. We need

to be able to call on both natural science expertise as

well as know-how in the social sciences, because our

mission is to explain natural science to someone so that

he or she understands it. This is something our staff

should enjoy doing; then risk communication is the per-

fect job for them. Recommendations for daily life in the

form of slogans are particularly important for our work,

and some of these slogans are still remembered by peo-

ple many years later.

What new features and formats have recently been add-

ed on the communication front?

The BfR provides information via its own Twitter account,

which is also available in English, and via a YouTube

channel. One new format is the film series entitled

“100 seconds of BfR”, the first edition of which was

about pyrrolizidine alkaloids in tea and honey. It explains

whether these substances may pose a risk to the popu-

lation and tells people what they themselves can do to

avoid the problem. We have also launched a “BfR Poi-

soning App”, and we're quite proud it won the German

Award for Online Communication in 2014, as well as the

“BfR Opinion App” which presents our opinions in a com-

pact format.

Dr. Böl, how can complex scientific issues be communi-

cated in an appropriate way?

The BfR strategy for risk communication generally fo-

cuses on transparency, dependability and the greatest

possible degree of openness. We explain scientific mat-

ters using simple words and tools to make sure people

can understand them. One example of this is our “Risk

Profile” – a chart-like illustration we use in our opinions.

The reader can see right away whether a risk exists for

a specific group of people, such as children or pregnant

women.

And our communication is not a one-way street: we

stage a range of events and enter into dialogue with our

stakeholders. Our video series “Consumers ask – the

BfR answers” is also an interactive format: people can

ask questions via our website, and the scientists then re-

spond in the form of a short video.

Interview with

head of department

PD Dr. Gaby-Fleur Böl