Disaster Risk Reduction
learn with DRR pioneers
july 10 - 14, 2023 | DRR Summer school
Disasters are on a climate-fuelled rise. Even in the most optimistic scenario of the IPCC, we will face growing humanitarian challenges. The world will need top expertise to stem the tide — professionals who know and reflect on the lessons learned in the past, and who are passionate about developing them into innovative solutions for the future. And as the recent earthquakes in Syria and Turkiye have shown, geophysical risks remain a major cause of disaster mortality.
At this year’s DRR Summer School, we are fortunate to have five pioneers from the early days of DRR. Ian Davis, Terry Cannon, David Alexander, Maureen Fordham, and John Twigg have all substantially contributed to the development and improvement of DRR, and are considered key influencers. They will share their insights from decades of research and practice with a group of DRR students and practitioners.
Come and join us over five days this July. Debate, learn and reflect, and work in small teams to develop solutions to practical challenges. The class will be no bigger than 40 participants, so there is ample room for networking, interaction, and deliberation.
With seats limited, make sure to book soon.
We look forward to seeing you in Oxford this July.
The DRR Summer School 2023 brings together key pioneers and practitioners. Be part of this year’s summer school and learn from top UK academics Ian Davis, Terry Cannon, David Alexander, Maureen Fordham, and John Twigg.
The world needs top skills to reduce Disaster risk
FIVE days. FIVE reasons to join.
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Experience.
Learn from the pioneers of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Between them, they have 200 years of DRR experience.
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Explore.
Delve into key concepts of DRR, such as vulnerability and resilience. Explore risk drivers and success factors of effective risk reduction.
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Network.
Meet the pioneers and other DRR professionals in person. Make new friends and form networks that can last a lifetime.
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Learn.
Share experiences and problem-solve current challenges in small teams. Learn from others to inform your future work.
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Grow.
The DRR Summer School provides an experience that helps you build your professional portfolio as a DRR practitioner or researcher.
This july, sharpen your skills
It is not unusual for a disaster risk manager working for an NGO, government or UN agency that he or she might never (or rarely) get specific training on DRR/CCA in their entire career (the exception being staff within emergency services, who regularly receive advanced technical training).
Increasingly, universities and academic centres offer long-term DRR/CCA Master courses but, for a variety of reasons, these courses often do not specifically correspond to the professional needs or demands of those DRR/CCA practitioner colleagues.
Based on several decades of DRR/CCA research, practice and engagement, there now exists a wealth of experts and pioneers, whose knowledge and wisdom often remains untapped. Many of their lessons learned and past insights are still valuable and could undoubtedly enrich the current DRR discourse and practice.
Some of these DRR Pioneer colleagues have been interviewed as part of the DRR Early Days Interviews (UNDRR 2021). Many of those primary witnesses and pioneers of this early period have expressed a strong interest in “Passing the baton” to a new generation of DRR researchers and practitioners. The DRR Summer School is unique as it will connect past, current, and emerging generations of researchers and practitioners in an enriching and interactive way.
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The DRR Summer School is designed for: DRR/CCA practitioners from NGOs, CBOs, Red Cross/Red Crescent, national governments and international/UN agencies, as well as DRR/CCA Bachelor/Master students, postgraduates or Ph.D. students.
Note that you should have a good or basic understanding of key DRR concepts such as vulnerability, risk and resilience.
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Morning sessions will be based on topics presented by the DRR Pioneers. Aspects include ‘the missing half of DRR’, ‘disaster risk creation versus reduction’, as well as practical tools for DRR.
Afternoon sessions will be shaped by you: the participants of the summer school. In early May, we will ask you to submit questions and have a voting process to shape the content. This may include practical and future challenges, including those related to climate change adaptation. See the full programme here.
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The summer school is facilitated by the DRR Pioneers themselves. Through lectures and seminars, combined with interactive training methods such as hands-on training tasks, group work and simulations, trainees will learn from the rich experience and extensive expertise of the facilitators.
There will be ample time for dialogue, Q&A sessions, anecdotes, and debate based on the specific interest of the trainees.
Such a combined approach has proven to be most valuable in terms of effective DRR learning and knowledge exchange.
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The DRR Summer School fee is GBP 450 not including accommodation. See more details on how to book and accommodation options here.
Upon full completion, all participants will receive a certificate.
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Onsite. The DRR Summer School aims to enable learning from DRR pioneers and from each other. With a small group of no more than 40 participants and an excellent venue at Oxford Brookes University’s Headington Hill Hall, we’ll have a great learning environment.
“The neglect of training requirements in the disaster risk reduction field
remains a source of great concern.”
