A Resilient Future: Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction, a course offered by the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, is now available online for free or for $50 if you desire a certificate of completion. This course demonstrates how science and technology help to increase disaster risk and increase resilience. Course participants are introduced to existing and emerging technologies suitable for disaster risk reduction while promoting the overall aim of sustainable development. The course focuses on three main natural hazards: floods, landslides and earthquakes. At the conclusion of the course, participants will be able to:
- Explain Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) related concepts and science and technology for DRR.
- Identify and describe existing and emerging technologies for landslide and flood reduction.
- Explain methodological tools to assess vulnerabilities and risk and strengthen the resilience of communities at risk of landslides, floods and earthquakes.
- Exemplify the role and the challenges of science and technological innovations for disaster risk reduction in an interdisciplinary manner including the importance of social aspects.
- Recognize some of the actors active in DRR and international policy frameworks and technology for DRR.
The instructor, Dr. Silvia Hostettler, is the Deputy Director of the Cooperation & Development Center at the École Polytechnique in Switzerland, where she is responsible for coordinating research activities and for directing the Biennial International Conference of the UNESCO Chair in Technologies for Development. As this course is a great resource for our graduate student interns to help them get started with our projects, we highly recommend it.