RDR celebrating UCL200: Communicating risk in an uncertain world

Explore how we communicate risk, evidence and uncertainty in a fast‑changing world — part of the UCL bicentennial celebrations.

In a world where trust is fragile and risks are increasingly complex, fast-moving and interconnected, how can we understand and communicate risk and evidence in ways that are clear, credible and actionable for different publics?

This roundtable will focus on communicating under real-world complexity — when uncertainty is high and impacts are uneven, evidence is contested or rapidly evolving, and when the best available answer can’t be reduced to a single ‘headline probability’.

From Covid to legal cases, heatwaves to climate change — join us to explore how we make sense of risk, evidence and uncertainty, and how we communicate them clearly and credibly in a fast-changing world.

This event is for researchers, policymakers, journalists, students and members of the public who want to make better sense of risk, evidence and uncertainty — and communicate them in a trustworthy way — whether at work or in everyday conversations when decisions feel urgent.

Speakers 

• Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter FRS OBE: British statistician and Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Cambridge.
• John Burn-Murdoch: columnist and the chief data reporter for the Financial Times

Celebrating UCL200

2026 marks 200 years since UCL’s establishment as the first university in London. This special UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction event will mark the launch — celebrating UCL’s excellence and impact.

It will be followed by a drinks reception in the newly renovated campus buildings. The UCL bicentennial celebrations begin in February 2026 and continue throughout the year.