Groningen, Netherlands

Cascading Disasters, Institutions and Organizations

when 10 July 2023 - 14 July 2023
language English
duration 1 week
credits 4 EC
fee EUR 300

A Joint summer school organized and hosted by the Erasmus University Rotterdam and of the University of Groningen

How can we build disaster-proof societies for the next generations? How do political institutions – at the national and global levels - shape resilience to the cascading effects of disasters? What are the challenges that organizational networks face when coordinating during multiple disasters?

These are only a few of the questions haunting social scientists and disaster management scholars and practitioners in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite decades of research and recommendations on disaster management strategies, the pandemic has not only reflected the vulnerabilities of societies to cascading disasters, but it has highlighted the need to better conceptualise the role that political systems and inter-organizational emergency management networks play in shaping resilience to such disasters.

CAINO intends to shed new light on such questions by providing advanced social sciences knowledge on the political dimensions of cascading disasters and on the role of emergency management networks. Equipped with this knowledge, participants will be trained in an inter- and transdisciplinary learning environment combining theory, methods and practice into group projects. The summer school will be held in two locations. The first three days will be in Groningen and then we will all move to Rotterdam- on Wednesday 12 July afternoon.

Course leader

Dr. F. Giardini, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, Sociology, University of Groningen
Dr. C. Egger, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Public Administration and Sociology

Target group

The summer school is designed for:

Excellent MA students willing to either engage in a career as a disaster risk reduction experts or in a PhD on the topic
Postgraduate students: PhD – post doc students studying crisis/ disaster management/organizational networks
Other external stakeholders: national and local policy-makers (both in civil society organizations and government agencies)
Applicants are expected to have a background in Social Sciences and related disciplines, as well as a good command of the English language (B2/C1) to actively participate in the discussions and to present their own work in English.

Course aim

After this course you will be able to:

1. Apply inter- and multi-disciplinary knowledge about cascading disasters and societal resilience to them;
2. Critically reflect on different strategies to strengthen resilience in organizations and institutions;
3. Apply analytical reasoning to complex disaster situations in order to be able to disentangle their complexity
4. Propose workable solutions to meet the societal challenges associated with cascading disasters

Credits info

4 EC
Workload:
Preparation (including reading, approx. 200 pages – the time spent on preparation depends on the students’ background): max 70 hours
Contact hours (class and online activities): 25 hours
Group projects: 17 hours
Total = 112 hours

Fee info

EUR 300: Fee for students
Discount of €100 applies for University of Groningen students
EUR 400: Fee: 400€ for practitioners

Scholarships

n/a

Register for this course
on course website