Die Anmeldung beginnt erst am 02.10.2026 um 08:00 Uhr. Sie endet am 12.10.2026 um 23:59 Uhr.

The registration is restricted to the following fields or courses of study:

• Leuphana Bachelor / Major Environmental and Sustainability Studies (bis Studienbeginn WiSe 25/26) / nur ab Semester 7
• Leuphana Bachelor / Major Global Environmental and Sustainability Studies (bis Studienbeginn WiSe 25/26) / nur ab Semester 5
• Leuphana Bachelor / Major Umweltwissenschaften (bis Studienbeginn WiSe 25/26) / nur ab Semester 5
• Leuphana Bachelor / Major Studium Individuale / nur ab Semester 3
• Leuphana Bachelor / Minor Studium Individuale / nur ab Semester 3

“Nothing can be said to be certain but death and taxes” wrote Benjamin Franklin just before the French Revolution. This ironic comment expresses that in our everyday lives, we permanently face risks, and associated uncertainties. Sometimes, however, people may not even notice. But, instead of facing risks or trying to understand their real nature, many people, including experts or politicians may fear what is not really dangerous, but ignore what may actually be harmful. Consequently, they avoid risks or even behave in ways that harm themselves or others. But, democratic systems require that individuals can understand risks, and make informed decisions about risks that harm themselves or the environments they rely on.
Through the lens of sustainability psychology and related disciplines, we will first define what risk and uncertainty are for individuals, and look at theories for conceptualising risks. This extends to individual differences shaping risk perceptions, such as political affiliation, cultural worldviews, gender, or whether people have directly experienced floods, extreme heat or other hazards. Second, we will study how risks are communicated, namely how numbers, pictures and words shape perceptions and understanding. With this background, we’ll finally discuss why and how psychological research on risk perception and communication can help building a society which is capable to deal with environmental risks.
The seminar will include topical sessions with student-led discussions, break-out groups and short presentations.

Learning goals are a solid understanding of mechanisms of risk perception and communication, and of the methods used by psychologists and scientists from related disciplines for studying risk perceptions. This will include 1) reading and interpreting scientific evidence and presenting it to others 2) applying this scientific evidence to practice, 3) developing one’s own research idea and refining it over the course of the seminar 4) discussing the broader societal relevance of transparent and clear risk communications.

Further information on teaching evaluation: https://www.leuphana.de/en/teaching/quality-management/evaluation/course-evaluation.html