Building Risk Literacy: Communicating to Create an Informed Public

Bys: Pyle, Andrew, Sellnow, Timothy L., Sellnow, Deanna D.

This book introduces the concept of "risk literacy" and explores its pivotal role in improving affective, cognitive, and behavioral learning when communicating science focused on complex, risk-related issues.

Risk literacy is both defined as and measured by the ability to understand accurately, evaluate critically, and respond effectively to risks that may pose threats to the health and safety of people, property, and planet. This book helps bridge a gap between scholarly insights and practical applications by introducing "transformative explanations" as a tool for practitioners to engage meaningfully with and improve risk literacy among diverse lay audiences by addressing public misconceptions, rebuilding trust, and fostering collaborative risk mitigation. Each chapter uses real-world vignettes and case studies to illustrate the challenges and opportunities of risk communication, as well as provide communication strategies to build trust, make complex concepts understandable, and propose risk management directives that are both actionable and efficacious to diverse lay audiences.

Building Risk Literacy serves as a practical guide for practitioners and students in fields such as emergency response, public health, climate science, community health, and infrastructure management, while also contributing to the academic discourse on risk and crisis communication.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1041103956
• ISBN13: 9781041103950
• Release Date: November 2026
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 158 Pages