This module encourages thought on risk, from the perspective of climate change and natural hazards, and how they are considered within a humanitarian context. It introduces frameworks and methodologies for understanding and measuring risk associated with hazards, strategies to reduce the impacts of hazards and the likelihood of disasters. It will help you to understand the impacts of climate change and natural hazards on vulnerable populations in different settings around the world.
96
5/15/2025
This module is intended to meet the growing and recognized need for those in the field of risk and disaster reduction to follow a multi-hazard approach. Therefore, those in this field need to have an understanding of the hazards and vulnerability from a wide range of both natural and anthropogenic hazards. This module also intends to meet the need to understand a hazard in context with its vulnerability in order to help bridge the gap between studying the causes of a hazard and its implications for individuals and society, policy makers, and industry.
3
5/15/2025
This module is focused on quantitative disaster risk management with geospatial and data science, mainly using geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing (e.g., satellite, drone, radar data) and machine learning or other relevant methods. Students will learn how to select appropriate geospatial data, prepare, process, and use them for decision-making for diverse disaster risk reduction applications.
2
5/15/2025
This module provides students with a fundamental understanding of various statistical and geospatial techniques crucial for analysing data in a humanitarian context. Students will engage in hands-on application of these skills by analysing quantitative social data collected from surveys and geospatial data derived from satellite imagery and vector data sources.
Upon completion of the module, students will have gained a foundational knowledge of introductory statistics, geographic information systems (GIS), and remote sensing. They will be equipped to visualise results effectively using maps, charts, and graphs and communicate statistical and geospatial outcomes with competence. The module incorporates industry-standard software for data analysis, ensuring students are familiar with tools used in professional settings.
57
5/15/2025
The availability of and access to safe and potable water are essential for life and livelihoods. Freshwater is at the core of human health, social wellbeing, economic growth, and sustainable development. Adequate water, sanitation and hygiene are necessary to meet universally-acknowledged basic human rights and universally-accepted humanitarian standards. and WASH is a key cluster/sector in humanitarian response and preparedness.
However, due to unsustainable use, growing unpredictability and scarcity under global environmental and climate changes, freshwater has become a pressing societal and geopolitical issue around the world.
41
5/14/2025
This module will provide students with an introduction to intersectionality and a critical understanding of how the concept can be deployed to analyse structural violence and marginalisation. We will approach these critical debates in diverse humanitarian contexts building from case study examples and real-life scenarios from different parts of the world. The module will relate stigmatised intersectional social positions and identities to global policies and practices aimed to reduce inequality, inequity, and marginalisation which sometimes contribute to experiences of violence in diverse countries and contexts. Gender-based violence, including domestic abuse and violence directed at women and children, will be used to enhance students critical understanding of systemic power abuses. Through real-world examples and visual communication theory, students will step into diverse humanitarian core questions to fully appreciate the complexity of power relations, how they are upheld, reproduc
30
5/14/2025
This module addresses the key theories and debates in the broader fields of development and economics and the political economy of aid. Students will have an increased ability to evaluate the economic policies of humanitarian actors critically, recommend alternative approaches, and equip them with policy-relevant skills and expertise.
50
5/14/2025
In this session, Saman will explore how AI-based tools and methods, including deep learning, explainable AI, digital twins, and AI-integrated simulation, can improve disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. The lecture will highlight how geospatial data, machine learning, and socio-economic modelling can provide deeper insights into disaster vulnerability and resilience, offering new approaches to reducing disaster risks.
In addition to his research, Saman teaches across both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at the Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction (RDR). He leads IRDR0047: Geospatial Data Science and IRDR0010: Advanced Hazards at the postgraduate level, focusing on the application of geospatial data and AI in understanding and managing complex disaster risks. At the undergraduate level, he teaches IRDR0021: Social and Geospatial Data Analysis, equipping students with the skills to analyse and apply geospatial data in disaster and social risk contexts.
13
4/16/2025