Convergent Leadership-Divergent Exposures

This book aims, through its chapters, at providing the knowledge to make competent decisions, convince peers or top management to take appropriate action, or beat out the competition for climate adaptation measures including adjustments for design and operations. Topics discussed include business-as-usual vs. divergence; the effects of public pressure on corporate, industrial and government decision making; techniques for gathering the proper information to assess risks and hazards; the importance determining risk tolerance thresholds; the difference between tolerable risks, intolerable ones that benefit from mitigation and those that require strategic shifts; why common practice approaches such as FMEA, and risk matrices are inadequate in today’s world and do not help ensure infrastructural and systemic resilience and sustainability.

Case histories and three complete case studies that can be adapted to any industry or project walk the reader step by step from client request to recommendations and conditions of validity. The ultimate aim is to understand how to reduce risks to tolerable and societally acceptable levels while simultaneously creating sustainable and ethical systems.

Dr. Franco Oboni is a Civil Engineer with over 40 years of experience and has specialized in Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) for over 30 years. He leads Riskope, a Vancouver-based practice active internationally providing advice on QRA, Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and risk-informed decision-making support. His clients include Global 1000 companies, large insurance companies, natural resource entities (mining companies, forestry, etc.), railroads, wharves, governments, and suppliers. He consults on risk and crisis mitigation projects, risk and security audits and geo-environmental hazard mitigation studies on four continents. He has authored over fifty papers and has co-authored several books. He delivers customized seminars (in English, French, Italian and Spanish) to industrial audiences world-wide. He was co-recipient of the Italian Canadian Chamber of Commerce (Canada West) 2010 Innovation Award.


Cesar H. Oboni has been involved in risk analyses and reviews for numerous facilities and organizations, communities, mining companies (coal mining, gold, copper and zinc mining), military bodies, and transportation entities, including “at perpetuity” projects. In addition to his activities in Risk Assessment and Optimum Risk Estimates, he has been very active in the analysis of special and emerging risks, co-authoring a report on Cyber-defense at national scale for an European country. Cesar analyses and prioritizes residual risk of mining infrastructures, tailings and water treatment plants. His clients include Fortune 500 companies, large mining corporations, UN/UNDP, transportation and military bodies. César is the author of more than 35 papers published in the proceedings of international conferences and symposiums. He is the co-author several books. He was co-recipient of the 2010 ICCC, the Italian Canadian Chamber of Commerce (Canada West) Innovation Award.


Janis A. Shandro (Contributor) works and researches on a range of topics associated with community and occupational health, safety development and security. She has broad experience across diverse sectors in the areas of effective risk management, strategic health and development investments, and monitoring and evaluation approaches. She has successfully supported the adoption of improved health, safety and social performance in challenging and unique settings as well as developed and implemented a range of programs and capacity building efforts for diverse target groups. Dr. Shandro is specialized in identifying and managing social, health, safety and security risks associated with large-scale development projects, incidents and emergency scenarios. She has a proven track record of working collaboratively with communities, governments (Indigenous and non), international organizations, multilateral development banks, academic institutions and the private sector in developing and developed nations. Her projects include health/social impact assessment; health and safety; indigenous health; the health and social performance of the global development sector; climate change and health; international performance standards, requirements and safeguard policies; resettlement/ livelihood restoration.