Urban Risk Reduction: Developing and Implementing Resilience Action Plans for Cities
Over the past 20 years disasters have affected 4.4 billion people, caused USD 2 trillion of damage and killed 1.3 million people. Disasters have affected people living in developing countries and, in particular, the most vulnerable communities within these countries.
Particularly in the context of increased urbanization, urban risk continues to rise. The vulnerability of cities to disasters is growing especially as poor people settle in high-risk urban areas. Unfortunately, the planning and development of cities has given little consideration to the consequences of hazards such as earthquakes, hydro-meteorological risks and others. The implication of this reality is the need for countries to focus on creating a safer world for urban dwellers and developing a series of innovative approaches to build resilience.
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) together with the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) Office for Northeast Asia and the Global Education and Training Institute (GETI) are pleased to offer this e-learning course that aims to strengthen the capacities of government officials, especially those at the local level, and disaster management professionals to design and implement plans and programmes that reduce disaster risk and enhance resilience.
At the end of the course participants should be able to:
- Identify risk reduction concepts, principles and approaches
- Recognize current challenges and opportunities on risk reduction
- Describe the Making Cities Resilient Campaign 10 essentials and how to implement them at the local level
- Assess risk situation in their cities
- Develop a safe and resilient country/city action plan
- Describe the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), its progress and possible elements for the Post-2015 Frameowork for Disaster Risk Reduction
This 8-module course is based on UNITAR’s sound adult learning pedagogical principles. The modules include interactive lessons that introduce the participant to the conceptual foundations of disaster risk reduction and urban resilience. Taking advantage of the opportunities of technology-enhanced learning, the learning materials are presented through various media, such as text, graphs, images and video material, which contribute to better retention and enhance the learning process.
The course is open to city and local government officials, disaster management professionals, and representatives from academic and training institutions working on disaster risk reduction.
A certificate of completion will be issued to participants who achieve a minimum total score of 70%. A certificate of participation will be issued to participants who complete all mandatory activities but achieve a final score inferior to 70%.