Module 1 - Foundations of Risk Prevention and Disaster Management (18 ECTS Credits)

Module outcomes:

  • Introduction to the objectives of the continuing education and training program and its relevance in everyday practice, with particular focus on risk prevention and disaster management;
  • Overview of the basic strategies and models in the field of risk prevention and disaster management;
  • Presentation of the risk cycle and the actions and their importance during the different stages;
  • Emphasis on terminology and the differentiation of terms (e.g. risk, vulnerability, resilience, risk governance);
  • Presentation of the most important actors, their functions and their responsibilities;
  • Basic knowledge of new media in the context of risk prevention and disaster management;
  • Importance of new online services and  the distinction between spatio-temporal base data and real-time data in a disaster situation;
  • Collection of real-time data via social networks (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, blogs) and crowdsourcing initiatives;
  • Knowledge of different spatial presentations of risk prevention;
  • Illumination of legal and organisational aspects in risk prevention and disaster management;
  • Application of fundamental principles and methods in academic research and writing, with a focus on academic research methods.

Key competences:

On completion of the module students will have obtained knowledge on …

  • Risk prevention and disaster management as permanent linked processes including fundamental strategies and models (cycles);
  • Historic development of disaster management;
  • Sources of information and data sets;
  • Terminologies, glossaries, technical terms, strategies in risk prevention and disaster management;
  • Governmental, non-governmental, national and international actors and their responsibilities and principles;
  • Official and non-official activities in disaster scenarios, including legal, organisational and social foundations of processes and decisions;
  • Factors of vulnerability and resilience;
  • Basic knowledge and possible applications of new media in risk prevention and disaster management;
  • Critical analysis of the advantages and limitations of real-time data in disaster management;
  • Assessing and appreciating the importance of spatial data in risk prevention;
  • Legal and organisational basics of risk prevention and disaster management;
  • Standards and methods of academic research and writing and the fundamentals of different research methods.