ENV ENG 7405 - Integrated Natural Hazard Risk Management

Climate and natural hazard risks such as bushfires, floods, sea level rise and heatwaves are increasing as a result of climate change, population growth, an ageing population and economic development. This course provides participants with the opportunity to explore (i) different approaches to quantifying climate and natural hazard risk, (ii) how these risks could change into the future in response to population and climate change and (iii) how risk can be reduced using a range of strategies, including structural measures, land management, land use planning and changes to building codes. This is done in the context of the risks associated with bushfires, heatwaves, riverine flooding and sea level rise. Participants also have the opportunity to apply the above concepts as part of daily and weekly projects, as well as a project of their choice, enabling them to explore topics such as how risk could change over time under different plausible future scenarios, what the most effective risk reduction strategies might be, how to best manage risks from multiple hazards, what strategies are most effective for increasing community resilience, how to present hazard risk information to best engage communities in natural hazard risk reduction activities, how to present hazard risk information to communities most effectively, or other relevant topics of their choice. This course will provide participants with the basic tools to undertake such analyses using GIS, as well as connecting participants with relevant literature, open-source data and models.