Riskieroja

Riskieroja is a term used in Finnish risk communication and risk governance to describe gaps or differences in how risk is identified, communicated, or mitigated across different stages, actors, or domains. The concept focuses on the spaces where risk is under-addressed, neglected, or misaligned with actual exposure, creating a mismatch between perceived risk and real risk.

The word combines risk with eroja, the Finnish plural of ero meaning "gap" or "difference." It emerged in academic and policy discussions in the late 2010s and is not yet a formally standardized term; usage varies by field and author.

In practice, riskieroja is used to map risk gaps within organizations, between planners and implementers, or between public messaging and individual behavior. It is applied in occupational safety, public health, disaster risk reduction, and climate adaptation to identify where controls fail to translate into reduced exposure.

Methods to identify riskieroja include risk mapping, gap analyses, incident investigations, and stakeholder workshops. Analysts may pair hazard assessments with process or communications analyses to reveal misalignments.

Critics note that the term is not widely defined and may overlap with existing concepts such as risk gaps, risk perception, or governance gaps. Proposals for standardization emphasize clear definition, measurement, and reporting to avoid ambiguity.