Online course - Disasters and ecosystems: Resilience in a changing climate

About this course

Originally developed and launched in 2015 by the Technical University of Cologne, Germany and UN Environment, this MOOC explores interlinkages between ecosystems, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. It enhances knowledge and skills for tackling complex issues such as resilience and transformation, sustainable development, ecosystem management, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and how they can be operationalized.

It was designed for disaster managers and practitioners, climate change adaptation professionals, development planners, project implementers and policy makers and students from all walks of life. We have added some new interviews and dusted off some materials, but the essentials of our first course are still there.

Leadership track

Start with the Leadership Track: six hours of learning for busy decision-makers, professionals or students curious about the topic. The Leadership Track consists of 6 sessions of 30-40 minutes, depending on how much time you spend on the reading materials, including 5-10 minute video-presentations and accompanying self-study readers drafted exclusively for this MOOC, quizzes, an on-line learning game and our interactive discussion forum. This track will be launched on September 18, 2017 and will remain open for students to take at their own pace until early 2018. You will be awarded a certificate upon successful completion (no fees) and will be eligible to enroll for the Expert track.

Expert track

The Expert track consists of an additional 15 hours of learning for professionals and students who want more in-depth knowledge and some skills training on the nuts and bolts of ecosystem based disaster risk reduction and adaptation. This track will go live on 20 November, 2017 and will close on 31 December, 2017. This module also consists of video-presentations, special interviews, self-study readers, quizzes, a case study teaching guide, additional video resources and discussion forum. For the final (peer-reviewed) assignment, you will get to design your own Eco-DRR project. Also for this track, you will receive a (no-fee) certificate, along with the first ever “Disasters and Ecosystems - The Book” (PDF format)!

What you will learn

• After completion of the Leadership Track, the participant will be able to:
• Define basic concepts of disasters, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and resilience
• Recognize key linkages between ecosystems, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation
• How ecosystems contribute to reducing impacts pre- and post- disasters
• Managing resilience and transformation