Disaster Management and Resilience

This programme is designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop knowledge and practical skills needed to identify, critically analyse, assess and successfully manage increasingly complex disasters, operating confidently in policy development, strategy implementation and response management. The overall aim is for you to be able to contribute to the strengthening of community, professional, organisational, national and international capacity to deal with complex multifactorial disasters in the future, developing strategies which will increase our resilience to risks and threats to both economies and societies. You should gain a solid understanding of the key theories within the areas of humanitarian practice, development, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, so you are better able to evaluate the activities of NGOs, government organisations, multilateral agencies and institutions and undertake risk and vulnerability assessments at an appropriate level of seniority, including important developments in the field of humanitarian relief and operations. We will help to expand your knowledge of the legal and political framework of international humanitarian and disaster risk reduction sectors, taking account of the social, ethical and environmental contexts of disaster management. You will also be required to carry out an independent piece of research of your choosing, intended to enable you to develop skills in personal organisation, research and critical thinking, as well as advancing your knowledge in the subject area. Why choose this course? The world in recent years has witnessed a steady rise in social and economic cost of weather-related and geological natural disasters, such as the recent floods in India, South America and East Africa the earthquakes in Nepal, Indonesia, China and Mexico. More significantly as the in-country capacity of many nations is developed to deal with disasters, international agencies are left to deal with the most complex and protracted emergencies resulting in food insecurity, famine and conflict in case study locations such as the recent West African droughts and the famine in Yemen. Increasingly, an integrated global disaster response is called for, spanning multiple agencies and often many nations and governments. Responding agencies and their staff are facing new levels of complexity when trying to deal effectively with the management of large-scale, cross-country disasters. This Master’s course aims to reflect the growing need for disaster managers to have practical solutions and be responsive and innovative in identifying, assessing and managing risks, hazards, emergencies and disasters. Broadly-based, it covers a range of exciting and relevant topics within the interdisciplinary field of disaster management. Focusing on the theoretical, policy and operational aspects of disaster management, we aim to use international case studies, guest speakers and workshops to illustrate how applied and theoretical knowledge complement each other.

Around one quarter of students at the university travel from outside the UK and their first point of contact is the International Students Hub. This offers a wide range of information and advice to help adjust to their new environment and integrate with the larger community. There is help for matters such as healthcare and accommodation advice as well as support services and even help with English, if this isn't their first language. The Students Union is both a charity and representative organisation for the students at Coventry. They are based in The Hub and support more than 100 sport clubs and societies as well as an advice centre and volunteering department. The union owns a nightclub on Far Gosford Street and there is a student run radio station called Source Radio. Sports teams play in a number of sports as well as in annual competitions against neighbouring University of Warwick. The societies cover all areas of life to bring together people with the same interests and students can even apply to start their own should they find a space for their interest. These range from cultural and international groups to faith societies and music and performance groups as well as politics and special interests.