Course Details - Climate risk and resilience
Climate risks pose a threat to our ecosystems, livelihoods, and communities. By fostering resilience, protecting biodiversity, and empowering communities, we can navigate these challenges and create a more sustainable and resilient future.
Being at climate risk means being vulnerable to negative impacts and uncertainties associated with climate change, such as extreme weather events and sea-level rise. These risks can have far-reaching consequences for ecosystems, economies, and human well-being. Climate risk and resilience are closely linked.
Resilience refers to the ability of individuals, communities, and systems to withstand and recover from climate-related disturbances. It involves preparing for and adapting to changes, minimizing vulnerabilities, and building capacity to cope with and bounce back from adverse events. However building sustainable and resilient communities and societies is extremely challenging.
Integrative approaches are needed to better address risks and meet the needs, particularly of the most vulnerable. These approaches can bring significant benefits and help achieve the goals of global development agendas like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Sendai Framework, and the Paris Agreement. However, to establish cross-sectoral integration various challenges will need to be overcome, such as sectoral budgets, lack of institutional cooperation, established practices, and different underlying concepts with their own definitions. A risk and vulnerability focus can provide a foundation for common understanding and an entry point for effective interventions.
This interactive programme places you at the centre as change agent. You will be guided through practical strategies and effective solutions to build resilience against climate risks. The programme covers disaster risk reduction measures, sustainable water management practices, and biodiversity conservation approaches.
The programme has 2 tracks. Both tracks emphasize the importance of individuals who can communicate effectively, collaborate across cultures and sectors, and advocate for responsible actions. The programme aims to strengthen participants' skills in planning wisely, advocating, and acting responsibly to ensure a more sustainable and resilient future.
Adaptation and disaster risk Management track
Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Management (DRM) play crucial roles in enhancing the overall resilience of people and communities. They both focus on reducing vulnerabilities, improving the understanding of climate-related hazards, mitigating the impacts of disasters, and avoiding risks whenever possible. However, many countries treat these two policy fields separately with different departments taking up the responsibility for either DRM or CCA, often using overlapping methods and tools to monitor, analyse and address disaster and climate change risks. Improved coordination and integration of DRM and CCA activities into development planning is needed. At the same time institutional arrangements have to be strengthened and societal capacities enhanced. As a participant in this training program, you are taking an important step towards becoming a forward-thinking manager who can anticipate and prepare for risks. Throughout this course, you will gain new insights, perspectives, and tools that will enable you to guide coordination and integration of disaster risk management (DRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA). Get ready to enhance your abilities and make a positive impact in managing risks and creating a resilient future.
Water Stewardship for resilience track
Water-related disasters such as tropical storms, floods and droughts account for the majority of disasters that take lives, destroy property and impact livelihoods. The number of people at risk from water-related disasters is projected to increase over the next 30 years. By safeguarding water resources, restoring and protecting biodiversity-rich habitats, and implementing sustainable practices, we can enhance water security, mitigate climate risks, reduce the impacts of disasters, and promote the overall well-being of both humans and the nature.
This track will trigger discussions and support participants to think broadly about how to best utilize water especially in view of a growing demand for food, increasing pressure on fresh water resources and in the context of climate change. Participants will engage in a real-life case and will put the necessary skills for water stewardship in action. They will look at the conflicting demands for water resources in the case and engage in a scenario planning exercise to come up with the most appropriate solutions to manage water wisely.
Making the best use of water also requires individuals who dare to speak up, who can communicate across cultures and sectors, who are eager to work with others and ensure that partnerships can function more smoothly. It needs people to reflect on the actions taken so that needed changes are being incorporated into future plans and operations. The course will support participants to strengthen their skills to plan wisely, advocate and act responsibly.
A mixture of interactive lectures, group work and field visits
The course is highly interactive, combing interactive lectures illustrated by case studies and shaped innovation tools. It incorporates group work, discussions, presentations and excursions to offer background, theoretical aspects, as well as practical approaches. Resource persons from different disciplines will expose you to a broad range of domains.
The track adaptation and disaster risk Management is organised together with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center https://www.adpc.net/igo/ and the Resilience Development Initiative (RDI) https://www.rdi.or.id/
The track Water Stewardship for resilience is organised together with the National Laboratory for Sustainability Sciences (LANCIS-IE-UNAM) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)/Laboratorio Nacional de Ciências de la Sostenibilidad LANCIS Instituto de Ecología, UNAM and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education.
This course is taught in an online format
Our courses are currently taught online and follow this format:
- Online pre-course assignments to ensure that you have acquired pre-required knowledge, understand the technical requirements of the online / hybrid learning.
- Interactive plenary sessions where we share content, facilitate exchanging experiences, challenge each otherthrough debates and discussion. During those interactive sessions we work witha number of online tools like Mentimeter, Jam Board and Mural.
- Group work where you and other participants work jointly to answer specific questions and / or complete an assignment. The content and skills acquired during the group work will be applied to a concrete case. Using backcasting, each group will be guided and challenged to find innovate solutions for the identified problems, which will be presented at the end of the course.
- Individual assignments where you will read literature, watch videos, do exercises and take quizzes. These assignments are an essential part of the learning and most of them count for getting the certificate. They are meant to introduce or deepen knowledge and make the linkbetween theory and your own situation.
- We offer coaching trajectories where we support you one-on-one or in small groups to review your individual learning paths in the course and help with any basic questions you may have.
Online platforms: Zoom and TalentLMS
Internet connection is important for the completion of the course. Not sure about the connection in your area? Send training.cdi@wur.nl an e-mail about your situation.
We use Zoom as the virtual classroom for the online part..
Our learning system is TalentLMS. Everything you need — our course programme, assignments, background information are in this system. TalentLMS is easy to operate, can also be accessed by your phone and has an on-and offline functionality. To access TalentLMS you will receive a temporary WUR account.
We organise a technical check-in before the course starts, to test your facilities and get familiar with the tools.
Course planning and certificates
The course workload is approximately 16-20 hours a week (2-2.5 workdays).
The exact programme of your course will be available 2-3 weeks before the start of the course. If you’ve successfully completed your course we send you a digital certificate.