Teaching about Risk and Resilience: Sea Level Rise, Flooding, and Earthquakes

Preparing for or responding to an environmental disaster requires knowledge from many disciplines and real time interdisciplinary problem solving. The interaction between the extreme event, people in its path and the response mechanisms of government and business combine at one place and time. How do we prepare students for careers where they can make useful and valuable contributions that mitigate risks and increase resilience in the face of a growing population and changing environment? What do students need to know about risk and resilience? What foundational knowledge will prepare them to communicate with, learn from, and work with experts from the range of disciplines that are needed to address these problems?

This workshop will bring together educators from the variety of disciplines that prepare students to address natural disasters with those currently engaged in addressing these challenges. Focusing on case studies, we will share best practices in education to help students to understand needs of different stakeholders and to prepare students for careers related to hazard mitigation and adaptation. We will consider how partnerships among academia, civil society, and the business community will enhance both student learning and community preparedness. We will identify needs for curricular resources and discuss how to meet these needs.

This workshop is open to 30 faculty (by application) and there is no registration fee to attend. Participation for non-academics is by invitation. Workshop stipends are available to help defray travel expenses in cases of financial need. Accepted participants are expected to contribute teaching materials to a new web-based collection devoted to teaching about risk and resilience across the disciplines.