The new issues of risk and the environment have common features that distinguish them from traditional scientific problems: uncertain facts, values in dispute, high stakes, and a pressing need for decision-making. The problem-solving strategy appropriate to this context can be called post-normal science. The essential function of quality assurance and critical assessment can no longer be performed only by a restricted corps of insiders. The dialogue on quality, along with that on policy, must be extended to all those who have a stake in the issue, that is, to the extended peer community.
uncertainty; quality; complexity; post-normal science; extended peer-community