Module GEOG3611: ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS AND RISKS

Department: Geography

GEOG3611: ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS AND RISKS

Prerequisites

• Any Level 1 or level 2 module in Geography or other appropriate evidence.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide an understanding of the concepts and contexts of environmental hazards and risk.
• To introduce the range of environmental hazards and the differing perceptions and responses to environmental hazards.
• To explore the range of approaches used to manage and mitigate environmental hazards
• To explore the inter-relationships between hazards, risk and vulnerability

Content

• The module will cover the following topic areas:
• Definitions of hazard and risk
• Temporal and spatial scales in hazard and risk
• Types and typologies of environmental hazards
• Case studies of environmental hazards (e.g. technological hazards; atmospheric, hydrological and flood hazards; seismic and volcanic hazards; landslide hazards)
• Temporal and spatial scales in hazard and risk
• The science of vulnerability
• Hazard and risk assessment
• Future developments in hazard and risk forecasting
• The perception and experience of hazard, risk and vulnerability
• Societal responses to hazard and risk
• Disaster management and response.

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• describe the nature of environmental hazards and the links between hazard and risk
• relate wider debates to a range of specific environmental hazards and case studies
• discuss the ways in which the perception of hazards and therefore risk varies at an individual and national level
• link at a conceptual and practical level environmental hazards with risk and vulnerability

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• relate general principles to specific situations including case studies of specific hazards
• analyse the complex interactions between natural and social systems

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• Perform assessments and interpretations explained in lectures/practicals and extract patterns from data.
• Present logical written and oral arguments.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures, workshops & fieldwork
• Lectures will provide the conceptual and empirical foundation for the module in line with the aims set out above and including guidance on relating methods to topics of research. The workshops will provide students with the opportunity to discuss and develop the material covered in the lectures, drawing on further reading. The one day field trip will provide a 'hands-on' introduction to hazard and risk assessment, allowing students to gain experience of the techniques involved and of the problems associated with these methodologies. The module paper will examine some of the philosophical and social issues associated with hazard and risk. The written examination will complement the module paper by testing students' understanding of basic principles and processes, and their ability to support their argument with appropriate reference to the general literature and case studies.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Field visit report, with written feedback, 3 x sides A4.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University