InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Map your Hazards! > Unit 3: Translating the Message
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The materials are free and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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Unit 3: Translating the Message

Brittany Brand (Boise State University), Pamela McMullin-Messier (Central Washington University), Melissa Schlegel (College of Western Idaho)

Summary

Students will identify potential stakeholders and assess the importance of communication and interaction among these groups to make recommendations on how to define and develop prepared communities.

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Learning Goals

  • Students will identify potential stakeholders (e.g. individuals, social groups, scientists, community planners, emergency managers, decision makers, etc.) who would have an interest in or benefit from their assessments of hazards and vulnerabilities. Optional: Invite community stakeholders to attend and offer feedback or ask them to speak to the class.
  • Students will make a general list of recommendations for preparedness, resource allocation and city planning to promote building a better prepared and more resilient community (these can be specific to a particular stakeholder group).
  • Students (or groups of students) will choose a specific stakeholder to communicate their findings and recommendations in a hypothetical situation (potential forms can be a speech, written report, poster or PowerPoint presentation).

Context for Use

Note to instructors: Hazard professionals are interested and may want to talk to your class about the relevance/importance of their surveys. Think ahead of the module in extending invitations to professionals, as time permits.

This final part of the module is where students synthesize their findings from the previous units essentially into an action plan. We suggest at least two dedicated class periods to work on the presentations as students will need time to practice and get feedback from their peers and the instructor.

Description and Teaching Materials

Please note: We suggest that instructors give the students 1–2 minutes to discuss and list potential stakeholders who may be interested in this data (formative assessment). This can segue into an introduction on the role of stakeholders in disaster mitigation before moving into presentations:

Introduction to Stakeholders (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 417kB Oct28 14)

Unit 3 Rubric (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 23kB Oct19 14)


Activity 3:

This activity combines the results from Units 1 and 2. Each student group will be assigned a different stakeholder by the instructor (either "general public" or "expert") with whom they will hypothetically (1) share the results of the mapping exercise and survey results, and (2) make recommendations for building stronger community resilience.

Groups will begin by making a list of recommendations for preparedness, resource allocation and city planning to promote building a more resilient community. This list will focus on their specific stakeholder and will included in the presentation.

Finally, each group will prepare a 5–minute PowerPoint to present their findings and recommendations for their assigned stakeholder. The presentations will be given in class during the following class period. Students should be instructed to turn in a copy of their PowerPoint the day before the presentation.

Note to instructor: It is a good idea to invite stakeholders (either within the university or community) to attend during Activity 4. The students take it more seriously and they can also get valuable feedback on their presentations.

Activity 4:

Unit 3 Student Instructions (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 27kB Oct19 14)

Students will give their presentations to the class. The class and instructor will grade the groups of students using the rubric. Finally, instructors will give students a short, post-module assessment to gauge student engagement, interest and degree of learning from participation in the module.


Teaching Notes and Tips

Be sure to allow enough time for students to practice their presentations for peer review and instructor advice.

Assessment

Unit 3 Rubric (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 23kB Oct19 14)

The class will finish with an anonymous reflective assessment assigned on the last day of the module.

References and Resources

An example of an organization that connects stakeholders with risks and vulnerabilities: Assessments of Impacts and Adaptations to Climate Change.

World Economic Forum 2011 Report on proposals for public/private stakeholder solutions : A Vision for Managing Natural Disaster Risk.

Journal Article: Adaptive governance and resilience: the role of multi-stakeholder platforms in disaster risk reduction.

Journal Article: Patterson, Olivia, Frederick Weil, and Kavita Patel. "The Role of Community in Disaster Response: Conceptual Models." Population Research Policy Review (2010): 29: 127-141.

FEMA: Community Emergency Response Teams and FEMA Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.


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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »