Course syllabus
Samhällssäkerhet och resiliens
Societal Resilience
VRSN01, 7,5 credits, A (Second Cycle)
Valid for: 2014/15
Decided by: Education Board C
Date of Decision: 2014-04-15
General Information
Main field: Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation.
Elective for: BI4, RH4
Language of instruction: The course will be given in English
Aim
- to provide the students with understanding of society’s
challenges and necessary functions for resilience in relation to
various events threatening safety and sustainability, as well as
ability and approaches to contribute to societal resilience through
disaster risk management and climate change adaptation for
sustainable development in a changing world.
- to form a foundation for students interested in research in
disaster risk management and climate change adaptation for a safe
and sustainable society.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must
demonstrate understanding of the main challenges to the safety
and sustainability of society and the importance and utility of
concepts of resilience in this context.
Competences and skills
For a passing grade the student must
- demonstrate ability to analyse societal resilience as an
emergent property based on society’s ability to anticipate,
recognise, adapt and learn.
- demonstrate ability to improve societal resilience with
consideration to human conditions and needs and to societal goals
for economically, socially and ecologically sustainable
development.
- demonstrate ability to orally and in writing formulate, present
and discuss own conclusions, as well as the underlying assumptions
and arguments, concerning complex issues of societal
resilience.
Judgement and approach
For a passing grade the student must
- demonstrate ability to reflect on scientific, societal and
ethical issues concerning risk, resilience, safety and
sustainability in our uncertain, complex, ambiguous and dynamic
world.
- demonstrate ability to identify own needs of further knowledge
and skills for a safer and more sustainable world.
Contents
The course is designed with particular focus on critical
thinking in relation to societal safety and sustainability. It is
structured in modules with a lecture and a seminar or roleplay
designed to illuminate central concepts, questions, challenges and
functions for societal resilience. The seminars and roleplay follow
case studies from countries with different conditions and are based
on literature, movies and case study material, as well as specific
questions for reflection and dialog.
Examination details
Grading scale: TH
Assessment: Written individual course paper and approved portfolio of assignments to mandatory seminars. The portfolio examination also includes peer assessment.
Parts
Code: 0114. Name: Societal Resilience.
Credits: 6. Grading scale: TH. Assessment: Course Paper
Code: 0214. Name: Individual Portfolio.
Credits: 1,5. Grading scale: UG. Assessment: Portfolio of assignments
Admission
Admission requirements:
- 120 credits from an internationally recognized university
The number of participants is limited to: 80
Selection: Credits remaining for the degree.
The course might be cancelled: If the number of applicants is less than 16.
The course overlaps following course/s: vbrn30
Reading list
- ACAPS: Coordinated assessments in emergencies, What we know now - key lessons from field experience. Geneva: ACAPS, 2012.
- Becker, P.: Sustainability Science: Analyzing and Managing Risk and Resilience for Sustainable Development. Elsevier, 2013.
- Coppola, D.P.: Introduction to international disaster management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann (Elsevier)., 2007.
- Cutter, S.L, Burton, C.G & Emrich, C.T: Disaster Resilience Indicators for Benchmarking Baseline Conditions. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 2010.
- Heylighen, F. Cilliers, P & Gershenson, C: Complexity and Philosophy. Oxford; Radcliffe Publishing, 2007.
- Meyer, R. J.: Why we under-prepare for hazards. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press., 2006, In R. J. Daniels, D. F. Kettl, & H. Kunreuther (Eds.), On risk and disaster: Lessons from hurricane katrina. (pp. 153-74).
- Pendall, R., Foster, K. A., & Cowell, M.: Resilience and regions: Building understanding of the metaphor’. 2010, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 3(1), 71-84.
- Illeris, K: Contemporary theories of learning, Learning theorists... in their own words. London and New York: Routledge, 2009.
- Johnson, D & Levin, S: The tragedy of cognition:, Psychological biases and environmental inaction. Current Science, 97(11), 1593-1603, 2009.
- Wamsler, C.: Cities, Risk and Disaster. London: Routledge, 2013, Routledge Series on Critical Introduction to Urbanism and the City.
- Kramer, R. M: A Failure to Communicate, 9/11 and the Tragedy of the Informational Commons. International Public Management Journal, 8(3), 397-416, 2005.
Contact and other information
Course coordinator: Per Becker, per.becker@risk.lth.se