Building sustainable and resilient societies: An online training course to enhance natural hazard scientists’ contribution to disaster risk reduction

Natural hazard scientists can contribute to the planning and development of sustainable and resilient communities through improved engagement in disaster risk reduction (DRR). Yet many scientists are uncertain of the steps they can take to effectively integrate their work into DRR. To address this challenge, we have developed an online, self-led training course designed for students and researchers interested in strengthening their engagement in DRR. The content of this online training course is based on a paper published in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-187-2021) and involved a peer feedback process in the development of each module. There are seven learning modules on the following topics: (1) multi-hazard environments, (2) effective partnerships, (3) stakeholder engagement, (4) cultural understanding, (5) equitable access to hazard information, (6) people centered DRR, and (7) DRR and sustainable development. Each module includes asynchronous video lectures, practice exercises, self-assessment tools and feedback mechanisms, and interviews with experts. While the course is designed for natural hazard researchers, it incorporates a variety of teaching and learning strategies to support a wide range of users including decision makers, practitioners and university students to contribute more effectively to the integrated work needed to improve DRR activities. The course is open-access and will be launched in May 2022 at https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/course/view.php?id=7993. Development of this course was supported by the EGU Training School Fund.