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Risk Management and Citizen Science (GEOG30032)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5Not available in 2021
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
Overview
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Interactions between risk managers and publics represent the ‘coalface’ for disaster risk reduction. Despite the centrality of these relationships, they are rarely the focus of teaching and learning. This challenge is acute in the context of ‘risk management’, where competing theories and the diversity of cases and factors contribute to masses of content, often with little connection to skill development for students. Furthermore, risk is by its nature difficult to study and often dangerous, making experience-based inquiry exceptionally rare but desperately needed. This subject addresses this gap by providing students with active participation and experience with community engagement through self-directed field research.
This subject will train students to utilise the Community Engagement for Disaster Risk Reduction (CEDRR) methodology, which uses traditional door-knocking between the emergency services and publics, but alters those interactions in order to nurture inter-personal relationships. The subject and method is premised on research that demonstrates that publics do not respond to ‘top-down instructions’ nor to awareness raising. In this subject, students will learn community engagement by doing it with individuals in their social networks (e.g., friends, neighbours, family).
Students will use the web-application for data collection, producing data that will form the basis of their assessments. The subject will deliver skills not currently taught in Australian universities, skills that organisations are increasingly seeking given acceptance that community engagement, participation, and citizen science are required for effective governance.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students will be able to:
- Interpret and be able to compare a range of risk theories;
- Apply numerous methods designed to elicit and assess perceptions relating to risk;
- Differentiate risk framings (e.g., deficit model; citizen science), included the debate over expert-public knowledge
- Explain the complicated process of risk communication and management (i.e. government-stakeholder interactions);
- Examine the challenges of community engagement;
- Conduct data collection on perceptions of risk;
- Analyze risk survey data.
Generic skills
- Critical thinking;
- Community engagement;
- Data analysis;
- Report writing.
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
a minimum of 12.5 credit points of Level 2 GEOG subjects
OR
Permission of the Subject Coordinator
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Online Quizzes (due every second day, n=10, approximately 1 hr each)
| Throughout the teaching period | 30% |
Mid-term essay (due mid-term)
| Throughout the teaching period | 30% |
Final essay
| 2 Weeks after the end of teaching | 40% |
Additional details
Additional information: Students are also required to conduct an additional Community engagement follow-up survey and analysis, 1.5 hours total, 10 individuals interactions in week 1.
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Dates & times
Not available in 2021
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 11 April 2024