Module GEOG3621: NATURAL HAZARDS, RISK AND RESILIENCE

Department: Geography

GEOG3621: NATURAL HAZARDS, RISK AND RESILIENCE

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 GEOG module

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• The overarching aim is to provide students with a sound basis for understanding natural hazards, assessment of risk and vulnerability, resilience, and disaster management.
• The core aims of the module are:
• To provide an understanding of how a range of important natural hazards operate, together with methods for monitoring and assessing the risks that they pose to society.
• To develop specific skills in hazard assessment; which may include spatial hazard mapping, statistical analysis of event frequencies, and potential effects linked to projected climate change
• To be able to communicate interdisciplinary results clearly to a non-specialist audience, both orally and in writing, such as through workshops and reports.
• To understand a range of methods for quantifying societal costs and vulnerabilities.
• To be familiar with approaches to disaster management, and wider impacts of natural disasters through lessons from case studies and examples.
• To provide students the opportunity to develop an integrated understanding of hazard, risk and vulnerability that draws from both physical and human geography

Content

• HAZARD, RISK AND VULNERABILITY: CONCEPTUAL AND EMPIRICAL FOUNDATIONS
• How a range of natural hazards operate; and their wider potential impacts
• Assessing the societal cost and vulnerability of society
• Key skills such as statistical analyses and hazard mapping
• Disaster risk reduction and management
• Potential effects of climate change on hazards
• CASE STUDIES OF HAZARDS AND RISKS (these are indicative, thereby allowing us to modify content in response to recent global events if appropriate)
• Earthquakes
• Landslides (on land and underwater)
• Debris flows and snow avalanches
• Volcanic hazards
• Tsunami
• Potential implications of projected climate change for natural hazards and vulnerability HAZARD

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• Assess the nature and frequency of hazards, and the links between hazard, risk and vulnerability
• Assess societal impacts and vulnerability
• Understand at a conceptual and practical level effective coping strategies for living with hazards, risk and vulnerability
• Understand the challenges and opportunities of integrating human and physical geography in respect of hazard, risk, and vulnerability

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• Relate general principles of hazard and vulnerability assessment, and damage mitigation or disaster management, to specific situations including case studies of specific hazards and risks
• Analyse the complex interactions between natural and social systems
• Demonstrate skills in a range of methods of hazard assessment

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• Demonstrate analytical skills and ability to present logical argument
• Demonstrate ability to state key messages clearly and concisely
• Demonstrate ability to communicate effectively to a general audience

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

• The module is delivered through a range of lectures, workshops and seminars.
• Lectures will provide the basis for understanding key concepts, whilst workshops and seminars will develop key skills and ability to communicate clearly with a general audience.
• The formative workshop presentation (a poster and/or oral talk) will address key concepts and approaches in natural hazards and social vulnerability and hence provides a solid foundation to the summative assessment. It will develop skills in communicating with a general audience.
• The summative assessment is based on a written exam (70%), which encourages understanding of the full range of course material. A written report (30%) will reinforce understanding of case studies and key concepts within the course workshops.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Group presentation and workshop abstract (~1 side 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