1. Introduction to the Course
For long we have been taught that disasters are of two types, natural and man-made. Isn’t it? But very few of us are aware that, according to recent developments based on years of research, it has been proved that disasters cannot be natural?
We are often taught that earthquakes, cyclones are examples of disasters. But imagine if there’s an earthquake and no one is hurt or no buildings are damaged, should we still call that earthquake a disaster? Events like earthquake, cyclones become a disaster when it combines with EXPOSURE and VULNERABILITY to cause loss of life, hurt and injury to people, along with economic loss. But are we trained enough to see a disaster as a combination of factors like hazard, exposure, vulnerability and coping capacity?
Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction of United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) says that “it is a time to say Goodbye to ‘natural’ disaster. A natural hazard becomes a disaster when it combines with exposure and vulnerability to cause loss of life, hurt and injury to people, along with economic loss. Efforts to replace the term “natural disasters” have been underway since the end of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction in the ‘90s.” Available on https://www.preventionweb.net
In fact, we use the term ‘disaster’ so casually, but many of us are unaware that the word disaster has a legal definition in India.
Disaster Management (DM), as a subject and a field of practice, has undergone phenomenal changes in the last decade or so. Unfortunately, not much these changes have been implemented or realised in our society. One of the major reason is the fact that there is a lack of awareness about the fundamentals of the subject. It is often said that a single disaster can push back years of hard earned development and yet, we fail to see disaster and development as the two different faces of the same coin.
Realising this evident gap between what we are taught and what is actually understood globally in this continuously evolving field and with an intention to spread awareness so that our society is capable enough to manage disaster risks and not merely manage disasters, the Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM) has developed this 5 hours basic course on Disaster Risk Management (DRM).
2. Why should you take the course?
It has been realised that it is possible to prevent a disaster. It has been proved that it makes more sense to reduce disaster risks than managing disasters. It has also been agreed upon by representatives of more than 180 countries at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (Sendai, 2015) that Disaster Risk Management is everyone’s business. But to be able to manage disaster risks, one must be aware of the fundamentals of it and the 5 hours course, offered by GIDM, can function as the stepping stone towards understanding disaster risk, empowering one to manage disaster risks better.
The course explains the fundamentals as lucidly as possible, combining experiences from the field with latest research. The units of the course have been designed, keeping in mind, the latest developments at the international and national level (India) like Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR 2015 – 2030), the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development Goals), Hon’ble PM’s 10 Point Agenda etc.
With this course, GIDM intends to bring the fundamentals of disaster risk management as close to everyone as possible. GIDM strongly believes that DRM should not be treated as a subject of researchers, academicians and field professionals only and DRM is one such field where we truly need to Think Global but Act Local.
3. What to expect in the course?
The course is composed of 3 learning units which has videos, transcripts of the videos, assorted reading materials and assignments.
Unit 1: Understanding Disaster Risk
The 1st session of Unit 1 introduces the participants to the basic terminologies like Hazard, Exposure, Vulnerability, Coping Capacity etc. and their meaning.
The 2nd session discusses the concept of Disaster Risk and connects it with established definitions like Disaster, Disaster Management etc.
Unit 2: Understanding Disaster Risk Management
Unit 2 discusses the basics of Disaster Risk Management, which is well known as the Disaster Cycle or Disaster Management Cycle. The Unit explains terminologies like Prevention, Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, Recovery etc.
Unit 3: State of Affairs of Disaster Risk Management
The 1st session of Unit 3 discusses the evolution of the field of disaster management, emphasising on the shift from ‘managing disasters’ to ‘managing disaster risks’. This session, primarily, talks about the global scene of evolution and the state of affairs of DRM machinery at the global level.
The 2nd session deliberates on the machinery of DRM in India as well as in the state of Gujarat.
4. Who should take the course?
The course is suitable for:
- Teachers of upper primary, secondary & higher (senior) secondary schools
- This course would help them to be aware of the basics of DRM and also help them in explaining the fundamental concepts of DRM in a much easier way to their students.
- This course restrengthens the objectives of National School Safety Policy of 2016 and adheres to the aim of Comprehensive School Safety set jointly by GIDM and UNICEF.
- Students of Class XI and XII
- Disaster Management as a chapter(s) is already a part of the curriculum and this course would strengthen the understanding of students and motivate them to take up higher studies in the field of DM.
- Understanding disaster risk and thereby its management is everyone’s business and hence it is important for the torchbearers of the next generation to be aware of the concept of disaster risk.
- The course is also suitable for students of classes 8 through 10, but they would require a learned teacher, who himself / herself has gone through the course, to guide them.
- Faculties of colleges and universities (lecturers, professors)
- Faculties of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) can go through this course, which would help them to incorporate the concept of disaster risk and its management in different branches of study.
- This course is aligned to the curriculum of DM suggested by AICTE.
- Undergraduate Students of all fields
- DRM is a trans-disciplinary subject and therefore should be introduced as such. This course would further broaden the understanding of DRM, which should be a compulsory subject as per the directives of UGC.
- Postgraduate students
- Postgraduate specialization empowers a student to develop his / her skills in a particular focus area of a subject, however, it is also important to develop a basic understanding of DRM, if his / her subject deals with DRM or its aligned subjects like climate change, hydrology, seismology etc. This would also help to bridge the evident gap of academia and industry, as the course simplifies the interplay of research and practice.
- Administration staff of all schools, colleges and universities
- This course would be of great use to administration staffs of all schools, colleges and universities as this would help them to understand their disaster risks and manage them better.
- Decision makers from all walks of governance, be it state or national government, corporate or otherwise.
- This course would help such individuals to understand that development and disaster risk management needs to be seen through a single lens.
Additionally, the course can also be taken by anyone & everyone who intends to develop a basic understanding of DRM.
5. How to take the course?
The details of the course is available on GIDM’s portal, at https://gidm.gujarat.gov.in/en/learning-management-system. The glimpses of the course is available on the same page and also on YouTube at https://youtu.be/-SbVrUnSQag.
- To enroll, you would need to register yourself by clicking on the ENROLL NOW button on the page. This will take you to the Learning Management System (LMS) of GIDM. You would be required to create a new account by clicking on ‘Don't have an account? Create one’ and you would be directed to the Course Registration Page.
- After successful registration, you would receive an e-mail with your username (which is the email address that you used for registration) and password.
- To start the course, you would then be required to access (log-in) the LMS at https://gidm.lms.gov.in/default.aspx , with your username and password.
- Once you have logged-in, click on the course titled “Basics of Disaster Risk Management”. This would take you to the Course Page, where you would be able to see all the content of the course like videos, reading materials, transcripts of each session etc.
- The course has 3 units with assessments at the end of each unit. You would have to go through the assessments after each unit to start the next unit.
- After the completion of the course, you would receive a completion email on your registered e-mail address and you would also be able to download your Course Certificate from the Course Page on the LMS, at the top left corner.
- Since this is a self-paced course, you can continue the course at any time, from the point where you left, simply by logging-in again at https://gidm.lms.gov.in/default.aspx with your username and password.
In case of queries, you can write to eaapm-gidm@gujarat.gov.in, or, lms-gidm@gujarat.gov.in
