E-Learning Course on Disaster Risk Communication in the New Normal
Background and rationale
Risk information is critical for building disaster resilience in all phases of the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) cycle. It is equally as important for risk information to be communicated and understood for decision-making.
Disaster risk communication aims to raise public awareness on hazards and possible disasters in communities to encourage preparedness and resilience.
The primary challenge of risk communication is to improve communication at all levels to ensure that information flows freely and effectively across society (United Nations, 2019). Another recent challenge is that most countries experience a new wave of ‘fake news’ and misinformation during COVID-19.
Course Goals and Outline
This fee-based course is designed to offer practical guidance and hands-on experience to participants on developing a disaster risk communication plan. By developing such a plan, participants will be able to improve their risk communication and contribute to effective risk-informed decisions at all levels.
This course explores risk communication from a natural hazard-induced disasters perspective (both rapid and slow onset) which includes epidemics such as COVID-19. The course also gives attention to multi-hazard and gender perspectives.
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Increase awareness, knowledge and skills on effective disaster risk communication
- Develop or enhance their draft disaster risk communication plan in the New Normal ; and
- Identify initiatives and good practices on effective disaster risk communication in the New Normal for possible future replication.
The course consists of 8 lessons that will be delivered over 3-4 weeks. It should be noted that all lessons are based on the New Normal scenario (i.e. during and post COVID-19).
Target Audience
The target audience for this course are those who deal with disaster risk communication; namely,
- Governments,
- Specialists/Researchers dealing with risk assessment, and
- Public, including local community, CBOs, and NGOs. Staff and personnel from disaster, public health, or any relevant sectors are encouraged to apply.
Motivated individuals who are interested in enhancing their knowledge and skills on disaster risk communication plan are also encouraged to take this course.
Lesson 1. Course Overview
- Need for disaster risk communication plan
- Course objectives, scope, content overview, methodology and schedule
Lesson 2. Situation Analysis
- Concept of risk, risk information, risk perception and risk management options, risk perception factors
- Participants conduct situation analysis based upon their specific needs or situations
Lesson 3. Disaster Risk Communication Approaches
- Disaster risk communication approaches for rapid and slow onset disasters (natural hazard induced)
- Participants define and select approaches for their disaster risk communication plan
Lesson 4. Understand your Audience
- Audience analysis and segmentation
- Identifying additional stakeholders involved in communication .
- Developing audience analysis and segmentation for disaster risk communication plan.
Lesson 5. Establishing Goals/ Objectives
- Desired results of a disaster risk communication plan
- Participants establish goals/objectives of their disaster risk communication plan
Lesson 6. Developing Right Message
- ‘What to say’ and ‘how to say’ for disaster risk communication.
- How to talk about the hazard’, ‘what to do’
- Message delivery – style, tone, demeanour and accuracy.
- Participants develop right messages for their prioritized audiences
Lesson 7. Delivering Right Message
- Tools for communicating risk to the public (i.e., traditional and modern)
- Participants identify and select tools for delivering their right messages
Lesson 8. Return Demonstration
- Participants review and finalize their disaster risk communication plan
- Participants present their final disaster risk communication plan for feedback.