Graduate Academy SERIOR (Security-Risk-Orientation) is a joint project of six universities from Germany, France and Switzerland, involving c. 40 researchers from social sciences, natural sciences and humanities. During its three year build-up phase (2016-2018) project partners seek to implement an interdisciplinary as well as intercultural approach to risk analysis and risk management with a clear focus on the concerns of the Upper Rhine region. Graduate Academy SERIOR reaches out to stakeholders of civil society, businesses and administrations through its programme for science and technology transfer. The threefold aim of Graduate Academy SERIOR is to develop course offers for PhD-candidates and postdocs, to tighten the networks among risk and security researchers, and to involve a broader range of non-scientific stakeholders in the Upper Rhine Valley.
In this paper we present our approach to risk management which is structured by three thematic core areas: "security", "risk" and "orientation" allow to comprehend risk management as a complex interplay of the following aspects 1) understanding the cultural differences in subjective perceptions of security and risk; 2) objectifying risk assessmen t through the methods of natural sciences; 3) orientation in the face of multifaceted risk communications and differing conceptions of risks and security. We ask, what are the challenges and opportunities for risk analysis to achieve an integration of scientific and practical knowledge within the setting of the Upper Rhine region, marked by cross-border and intercultural cooperation?