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Participatory Risk Management (GEOG90020)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable (login required)(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 1
Overview
| Availability | Semester 1 |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
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:
- Understand and be able to compare a range of risk theories, recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of different theories;
- Be able to apply numerous methods designed to elicit and assess perceptions relating to risk;
- Be able to recognize and apply different risk framings (e.g., deficit model; citizen science), including the debate over expert-public knowledge;
- Be aware of the complicated process of risk communication and management (i.e. government-stakeholder interactions);
- Appraise the challenges of community engagement to construct a strategy for their data collection and analysis;
- Design and conduct data collection on perceptions of risk with sub-populations;
- Create an original summary document using data that they collected.
Generic skills
Students will learn how to conduct community engagement through experience and practice-based learning.
Last updated: 30 January 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
Students must conduct fieldwork as part of this subject – the data that they collect will be the basis for their final essay (see assessment).
Last updated: 30 January 2024
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Online Quizzes, 4 hours in total (n=10)
| From Week 2 to Week 11 | 30% |
Mid-term essay
| First half of the teaching period | 30% |
Final essay, due in the last week of the assessment period
| During the assessment period | 40% |
| Hurdle requirement: Students are required to conduct Community engagement survey and analysis, 3 hours, 10 individuals interactions | Week 1 | N/A |
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 2.
The engagement survey is the basis of this class, in which students will conduct interviews with friends, family, or neighbours using the CEDRR methodology; they will also conduct a rapid follow-up survey with those same individuals in the following week.
Last updated: 30 January 2024
Dates & times
- Semester 1
Coordinator Brian Cook Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 26 February 2024 to 26 May 2024 Last self-enrol date 8 March 2024 Census date 3 April 2024 Last date to withdraw without fail 3 May 2024 Assessment period ends 21 June 2024 Semester 1 contact information
Last updated: 30 January 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Readings and materials will be posted online through the LMS.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Environmental Science Course Master of Geography Major Climate Change Major Environmental Science Major Tailored Specialisation Major Development Major Development Major Tailored Specialisation Major Tailored Specialisation Major Waste Management Major Integrated Water Catchment Management Major Integrated Water Catchment Management - 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: 30 January 2024