Master of Planning and Management of Natural Hazards

The Master in Planning and Management of Natural Hazards takes a multidisciplinary approach to looking at natural hazards and how society can build resilience in the face of natural hazards.

The course will build from a broad knowledge of natural hazard situations towards questions of policy development in the field of hazard mitigation.

The course will cover the following topic areas:

Course Aims

To provide graduates with a multidisciplinary knowledge of Natural Hazards and how these can be best planned for and managed from a resilience perspective.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: demonstrate a body of knowledge in relation to natural hazards and their planning contexts, including historical backgrounds and contemporary perspectives, in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region; demonstrate a body of knowledge concerning the role of planning systems and policy in the mitigation of natural hazards, including a critical appreciation of contemporary developments in the field; demonstrate a body of knowledge relating to the environmental, economic and social contexts of natural hazards, including different disciplinary perspectives; and demonstrate the ability to independently undertake original research in the field of natural hazards; to answer a research question competently and ethically using appropriate research principles and methods; present a critically coherent argument based on current research; and to communicate the problem, approach, results and conclusions effectively.

Graduate Attributes

Knowledge of a Discipline Graduates will develop an advanced understanding of current paradigms in natural hazard and disaster planning and management in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as relevant practices from a variety of international contexts. The course expores a wide range of approaches to building resilience to natural hazards in various Australian and international contexts. Exposure to varied research and policy approaches will expand the graduate's skills in hazard planning and management in various situations. Communication Skills Graduates will be able to communicate effectively to a range of audiences in the areas of natural hazard planning and management. Through participation in the course, students will hone their online communication skills (online students), their oral skills through discussion and presentations (on-campus students) and their written skills through assessment tasks such as essays (all students). Independent research undertaken during the course will also provide graduates advanced skills in academic communication. Problem Solving Graduates will have advanced skills in analysing natural hazard situations from a planning and management perspective. Graduates will develop high-level capabilities in solving problems relating to the planning and management of natural hazards, and in applying logical, critical and creative thinking to various hazard and disaster scenarios. Graduates will also have specialist skills to apply advanced resarch methods to identified problems in natural hazards planning and management contexts. Information Literacy Through the research component of the course, students will develop advanced skills in procuring, organising and reporting upon a wide range of sophisticated information relevant to the planning and management of hazards. All units in the course are delivered online, and students are both directed to a wide range of best practice sources and encouraged to use those sources to inform unit-based discussions and tasks. Ethical Conduct and Social Responsibility The successful development of systems for appropriate planning of, preparation for, response to and recovery from natural hazards and disasters must involve all sectors of society. The course will prepare students to act in an ethical and socially responsible manner in the wider social contexts of hazard planning and management. Graduates will also have an advanced awareness of ethical practice in independent research. Lifelong Learning The course will provide advanced knowledge and skills that can be utilised and built upon in a range of forums. Skills in policy analysis and plan-making acquired through the course will underpin ongoing learning in professional contexts. These skills will be flexible and diverse, and will have multiple applications in a range of contexts and situations. Independence and Collaboration Graduates of the course will have highly-developed capacities to undertake independent research. Graduates will have an independent capacity to analyse hazard contexts, and competency in procedures for addressing hazard situations. Students will also learn principles and skills relating to stakeholder engagement and collaboration crucial to planning and management activities. Students will have opportunities to work collaboratively to solve problems in some units.