Emergency Planning, Response and Resilience

Overview

This course provides core knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and lifecycle stages of emergency planning, response and resilience.

Summary

Students completing this short course will understand the strategic, moral and humanitarian motivation for emergency planning. They will understand the complexities, core principles, mechanisms and partnerships involved and the essential role of crisis communication.

Students will develop key skills in strategic planning and policy to deliver interventions successfully that deal with emergencies which threaten the lives, livelihoods or well-being of citizens across the world.

About

The course aims to provide students with core knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and lifecycle stages of emergency planning, response and resilience and its relationship to sustainability. It also aims to instil personal confidence in their ability to fulfil a constructive role in that process.

The course is designed to cover key strategy, strategic planning, policy development and intervention options in relation to this increasingly relevant discipline to ensure it has relevance to practitioners at all levels within organisations.

By nature the discipline of emergency planning and resilience is extensive. The course by necessity will focus on the over-arching core themes and strategic aspects and how these impact on policy and intervention strategies.

It also focuses on the multi-disciplinary nature of emergency preparedness and response and the importance of partnership working.

Participants will study the systems, skills and support networks needed to plan for, respond to and recover from emergencies while also considering the moral, humanitarian and economic motivation which underpins the discipline. Indicative content will include:

The need for preparedness and response and the fundamental principles underpinning our actions and the work of exemplar organisations such as:

The International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent:

• humanity

• impartiality

• neutrality

• universality

Resilience and the significance to sustainable communities:

• state

• organisational

• physical/engineering

• community, individual

Business continuity and the maintenance of essential services for the protection of public health and preservation of life.

Emergency Planning lifecycle and the roles of different organisations and responders:

• preparation

• response

• recovery

The core importance, principles and techniques of Crisis Communication and the role of modern communication opportunities.

Disaster capitalism.

Case studies for context to underpin the teaching.

Assessment

Report (Coursework) [25%]
Students are required to submit a reflective 750 word report based on their participation in and contribution to a simulation and role play exercise. This will typically, but not exclusively, include -

• critical appraisal of team cohesion, communication and achievement of desired outcomes

• commentary on lessons learned and areas for improvement.

Report (Coursework) [75%]
Prepare a draft -

• business continuity plan, or

• emergency response plan, or

• a crisis communication strategy,

for -

• the organisation in which they are employed, or

• an organisation to which they have links in a voluntary capacity, or

• another identified organisation within their community, or

• a fictitious organisation where a student does not have access to an appropriate organisation, or chooses not to use this option

The plan or strategy must be suitably justified and underpinned with relevant critical analysis and literature in the form of a supporting report. (2250 words total combined)

Attendance

This course is delivered fully online for 12 weeks in Semester 1, starting 26 September 2024, with no on campus attendance requirements.

* Please note, dates and timetabling are to be confirmed and may be subject to change.

Entry requirements

Any undergraduate degree.

If you do not have an undergraduate degree and are interested in this course, please contact us.

English Language Requirements

Applicants whose first language is not English must meet the minimum English entrance requirements of the University and will need to provide recent evidence of this (certified within the last two years).

Most of our courses require a minimum English level of IELTS 6.0 or equivalent, with no band score under 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Attendance and Independent Study

The content for each course is summarised on the relevant course page, along with an overview of the modules that make up the course.

Each course is approved by the University and meets the expectations of:

• the relevant generic national Qualification Descriptor

• the applicable Subject Benchmark Statement

• the requirements of any professional, regulatory, statutory and accrediting bodies.

Assessment

Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be a combination of examination and coursework but may also be only one of these methods.

Assessment is designed to assess your achievement of the module’s stated learning outcomes.  You can expect to receive timely feedback on all coursework assessments.

This feedback may be issued individually and/or issued to the group and you will be encouraged to act on this feedback for your own development.

Coursework can take many forms, for example: essay, report, seminar paper, test, presentation, dissertation, design, artefacts, portfolio, journal, group work.

The precise form and combination of assessment will depend on the course you apply for and the module. Details will be made available in advance through induction, the course handbook, the module specification, the assessment timetable and the assessment brief.

The details are subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.

Normally, a module will have 4 learning outcomes, and no more than 2 items of assessment. An item of assessment can comprise more than one task.

The notional workload and the equivalence across types of assessment is standardised. The module pass mark for undergraduate courses is 40%. The module pass mark for postgraduate courses is 50%.