Editorial: Inclusive governance, changing science-policy relations and multi level decision making in the enlarged EU

Abstract

To respond to a perceived trust crisis related to the management of risks, the concept of inclusive governance has been developed, including a reflection on relevant knowledge and expertise. It strives to consider a wider range of issue aspects and dimensions, as well as to involve a larger set of actors in the decision making or supporting processes. Policy making on risks and emerging technologies, including initiatives towards inclusion, show a mix of institutional and procedural inventiveness and of reproducing familiar ways of coping with hazards, based on a modern model of science-policy relations. In EU decision making, such tensions between tradition and innovation are interwoven with finding a balance between acknowledging Europe's diversity and developing integrated European policies. In this respect, the European Union's enlargement process, which resulted in a Union that is now a diverse entity in many key characteristics, works as a challenge multiplier.