Course

Many communities around the world are exposed to multiple, interrelated natural hazards – yet disaster risk reduction and management is dominated by approaches that either focus on single natural hazards or treat multiple hazards as discrete or independent.

This module will help you to:

1. Define the term ‘multi-hazard’ and understand how natural hazards may interrelate.
2. Describe how characterising a multi-hazard environment can inform actions contributing to disaster risk reduction
3. Reflect on approaches to data collection, in the context of characterising (multi-)hazard environments.

  Photo credit: Giovanni Randazzo (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Disaster risk is complex and multifaceted; a function of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. To tackle and reduce risk, dialogue between experts from different fields together with a high level of community involvement is needed. This calls for strong partnerships and collaboration between different actors across multiple sectors, including but not limited to governmental, non-governmental, industry, business, academic, and humanitarian institutions. 

This module will help you to:

1. Convey how effective partnerships can deliver meaningful results towards disaster risk reduction. 
2. Identify and select appropriate forms of collaboration for maximizing impact.
3. Explore how citizen science can support disaster risk reduction activities.

This section will take about 1 hour to complete, plus time for readings.

  Photo credit: Ioannis Daglis (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Identifying and understanding stakeholders is essential to developing and undertaking effective DRR research. Stakeholders might include different researchers across many disciplines, government agencies, non-governmental agencies, civil society, the private sector, and communities at risk. In this module, you learn about stakeholder mapping (identifying the relative interest and influence of stakeholders throughout the project life cycle) and some of the tools that support this process.

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Consider who your stakeholders are in a project
2. Understand how stakeholder needs/expectations might vary
3. Plan workshops to consult with stakeholders

This section will take about 1 hour to complete, plus time for readings.

Culture can affect risk by influencing how people prepare for, respond to and cope with disasters, and is closely linked with both livelihood choices and opportunities. How researchers approach ideas or partnerships can also be affected by culture. Therefore, understanding culture and how it relates to disaster risk response and reduction is important when planning and implementing DRR activities.  

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Define culture, its main components and how it affects risk
2. Understand how your own positionality may influence your work 
3. Recognize the importance of indigenous knowledge integration in DRR
4. Learn about how ethnographic research outcomes can inform actions contributing to DRR 

This section will take about 1 hour to complete, plus time for readings.

  Photo credit: Heijn van Gent (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Hazard information should reach those in need, be understood and be acted on if it is to help reduce risk. However, access to hazard information is not a straightforward process and depending on how, when and what is being shared, information can either inform and empower or mislead, confuse, and disarm people. The natural hazard science community can help address the gap between knowledge generation and knowledge access and ensure that all stakeholders can access and act on hazard information. Following the recommendations made in Modules 2-4 of this course, natural hazard researchers can help to create useful hazard information and use a wide range of approaches (e.g., citizen science) to bridge the gab between knowledge generation and access.   

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Define the term “access to information”  
2. Identify the key components of effective information sharing  
3. Understand factors that enhance access to hazard information

Reducing disaster risk is a shared responsibility between governments and relevant stakeholders. The SDGs and Sendai Framework both emphasize "leaving no one behind", to ensure disaster risk reduction and recovery are inclusive and accessible for all. Engaging stakeholders not only gives voice to those most vulnerable in society, but also enriches the decision making process and adds transparency and legitimacy to DDR activities. 

This module will help you to: 

1. Understand the skills required for building an inclusive DRR approach.
2. Describe the benefits of integrating indigenous knowledge in DRR.
3. Recognize the SDGs and Sendai Framework's commitment to inclusive "leave no one behind".

  Photo credit: Xiaoming Wang (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Disaster risk reduction can advance and protect progress towards development ambitions. It is therefore embedded within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Effective sustainable development interventions (e.g. addressing inequalities, increasing access to resources, better planned urbanisation) can also increase individual, community, institutional, and infrastructure resilience by reducing exposure and/or vulnerability.

This module will help you to: 

1. Describe the bidirectional links between disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. 
2. Discuss the role of development policies and strategies in identifying priority research and projects. 
3. Understand the skills required for effective policy engagement. 

Photo credit: Junbin Zhao (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)