AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is to introduce the student to the concept of risk management with and provide basic tools to draw risk maps starting from any hazard map. The topics include: -the analysis of risk management cycle and of the official terminology associated to it - the basic concepts and the phases of risk assessment, differences between risk and disasters, classification of risks. - Elements of country risk profiles: sources of data and applications to real cases - Elements of mapping risk scenarios and Basic methods and sources of information for the Estimation of Exposure and Vulnerability at different spatial scales. - general methodologies for the calculation of standard parameters in the risk assessment procedures (eg. PML and AAL) and examples of applications - practical examples of real time risk management and disaster risk reduction At the end of the course the student is expected to be able to: - describe conceptually the phases of the risk management cycle, understanding the differences among them - interpret and understand the information provided by any risk map - know and describe the most common methodologies for exposure and vulnerability assessment - know and describe common examples of real time risk management and disaster risk reduction policies - draw a risk map starting from a categorized hazard map at block and municipality scale.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The module aims to provide students with the theoretical knowledge and the methodological basis for the mapping and integrated assessment and management of risks produced by natural hazards.

At the end of the module, the student will be able to face the problem of the assessment and management of natural risks at various spatial scales, to support the different phases of the risk management cycle.

Specifically the student will be able to:

• understand how to perform a risk assessment with a probabilistic approach
• apply risk assessment techniques at different spatial scales (local-national-regional).
• Identify, select and quantify the most proper risk metrics for specific applications
• evaluate and map exposure, vulnerability and risk with different state of the art methodologies
• critically address the various problems inherent in the risk assessment and management process
• demonstrate decision-making autonomy, ability to effectively communicate the results of one's work in written and oral form, ability to adapt language to the context, ability to use, process and evaluate the information content of  different sources and aids, 
• demonstrate critical thinking skills, argumentative skills

The objectives will be achieved with a series of exercises on risk assessment.  

TEACHING METHODS

At least 15 of the 40 hours of classes will be dedicated to exercises concerning the steps toward preliminary risk assessment and mapping. Students will have to independently choose/derive the project parameters by applying the methods described during lectures. Some hours will be dedicated to the students' presentation of any problems that may have emerged during the work and the solutions adopted will be discussed interactively. During the exam, each student will have to make a presentation of the results and have a discussion with the teacher regarding the different project choices.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

1. Risk definition and disaster paradigms: introduction to the basic concepts, evolution of the disaster paradigms, classification of risks, phases of risk assessment, creation and analysis of a country risk profile.
2. Exposure characterization: assessment and mapping of exposed elements at different scales.
3. Vulnerability characterization: assessment and mapping of vulnerability at different scales, physical vulnerability assessment and development of damage curves, introduction to social vulnerability.
4. Disaster Risk and Emergency Management: the risk management cycle, real-time and deferred-time concepts, early warning systems.
5. Risk Assessment and Risk Metrics: methodological approaches to probabilistic risk assessment, introduction to the main risk metrics. Practical exercises on risk mapping.
6. Country risk profiles and Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies: real case studies of country risk profiles and impacts on planning for disaster risk reduction.

The programme foresees the assignment of exercises on specific case studies which must be presented for the exam.

The programme contributes to the achievement of the SDGs #1, #4, #9, #11 and #13 of the UN 2030 agenda

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Texts and essential bibliography consist of the module slides and documents that will be made available during the module via aulaweb.

Texts and essential bibliography consist of the module slides and documents that will be presented by the teacher and made available via aulaweb. The list of documents can be integrated from year to year according to research and technological developments. Below is a basic list

Disasters in numbers (last):

https://reliefweb.int/attachments/75c40f33-ca45-4027-b721-99bdcb42ab9f/2022_EMDAT_report.pdf

Global assessment report 2022

https://www.undrr.org/gar2022-our-world-risk-gar

QGis Tutorials:

https://www.qgistutorials.com/en/

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

https://easyacademy.unige.it/portalestudenti/?view=home&include=homepage&_lang=en

Class schedule

INTEGRATED RISK ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of an oral, during which the student will have to critically illustrate and discuss with the teacher(s) the exercises carried out during the module and answer specific questions on the theoretical part of the program not included in the topics of the exercises.

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Prof. Federico Scarpa (federico.scarpa@unige.it), the disability liaison for the Engineering study programs.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral exam includes the discussion of one of the three reports done during the module. The first report concerns the drafting of a country risk profile, the second the risk mapping at the building scale and the third the large-scale risk mapping with semi-quantitative methods.

The second part of the exam will be dedicated to some theoretical questions about the program

60% of the summative assessment of the module is based on the presentation of the reports. 40% of the assessment is based on the outcome of the oral questions.