wbi drm capacity building program
TRANSCRIPT
WBI Disaster Risk Management Capacity Building Program
Shelly Kulshrestha Urban Planner
September 28, 2007
Using Multimedia Technology
Challenges of Disaster Education• Demand Scenario:
– Large number of people (exposed to potential disasters) to be educated about basics of risk
– Diversified content and delivery modes required for the key players
– Growing number of professionals to be educated to about risk reduction in their specific fields
– Wide range of government organizations involved in development planning need disaster education
Challenges of Disaster Education• Supply Scenario:
– Traditional methods have limitations in reaching out to the potential participants
– Few organizations in a position to consolidate the knowledge of different disciplines of DRM
– Universities with specialized departments might have the in-house expertise but focus is on academic achievements rather than on practical knowledge
– Institutional limitations to design multidisciplinary programs due to cross departmental collaborations
Challenges of Disaster Education• Between 1993 and 2002, NCDM has conducted over 50
training programs for more than 1000 people. • Over 4000 people have been trained at the State level
through 24 disaster management centers. • Considering the demand for DM training in India, these
numbers are relatively small
• Need to find alternative methods to scale up training in disaster risk management
ICT for Education• ICT can change the way by which practitioners are
trained in disaster risk management• It can establish knowledge connections and facilitate
exchanges from various sectors and different levels• It allows working professionals to receive training without
interruption of their current work• It makes possible to scale up training in individual
countries as well as at the regional and global level• Scaling up effect similar to ToT cascade mechanism
without quality deterioration at each node • It allows interactions with data and learning materials,
including knowledge self-checks.
ICT for Education• Multimedia alone has limited power in creating a social
environment conducive for successful learning experience
• This flaw can be addressed by complementing use of multimedia with electronic channels creating opportunities for communication and collaboration among trainers and participants
• Need to move from traditional or self-paced learning to interactive E-learning
WBI’s E-Learning Program• It uses the in-house developed Virtual Learning
Environment (VLE) as platform of the learning activities• Launched the program in 2004• Objective
– Promote proactive disaster risk management practices– Raise awareness – Advance the analytical skills and professional knowledge in
specific area of disaster risk management– Improve the professional quality of disaster education
• Coverage– From global to local agenda– From pre-disaster to post-disaster with focus on prevention,
mitigation and preparedness
Online courses: Design and Structure• Courses: Overview and specialized
– Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Framework– Financial Strategies for Managing the Economic Impacts of Disasters– Safe Cities– Community-based Disaster Risk Management– Damage and Reconstruction Needs Assessment– Earthquake Mitigation– Innovative Market-based Risk Management,– Under development: Climate Change and Disaster Management, Disaster
Communication, Risk Reduction through Urban Land-use Management
• Audience• Communication and Interactions • Duration:
– 3-6 weeks
Online Courses
• Pilot online course: Oct. 17– Nov. 22, 04• More than 200 applicants, 115 participants, 33 countries• Participants’ Profile: 85 males, 30 females
VLE: Opening page
VLE: Course CDs
VLE: Homepage and Structure
VLE: Communication
Communication
Course Modules
Administration
Administration
Horizontal Knowledge Exchange
Best Course Projects
Scaling Up: Working with Partners and National Institutions
• India: Environmental Planning Collaborative, National Institute of Disaster Management, Madras University
• Turkey: Disaster Affairs and Leading Universities such as Middle East Technical, Istanbul Technical and Bosporus Universities
• Philippines: National Disaster Coordinating Council, KDC, Earthquake Megacities Initiative
What Are We Offering?• Program content prepared by leading experts• Six on-line courses being delivery and few additional
courses in the pipeline• Technical Assistance in program customization including
templates, guidelines and training• Technical Assistance in establishing capacity in distance
learning including assessment, training and coaching• Assistance in business planning for sustainability• Medium-term partnership: access to new courses,
knowledge and experience of WBI and partners
Program Steps
• Identification of potential partner(s), evaluation of capacity and selection
• Priority areas for training• Program adjustment and development• Program delivery and institutionalization
DRM Program in India • Being successfully conducted in India since 2005• Over 1800 people from government, NGOs, private
organizations, self employed professionals and students have participated
• Participants are from diverse areas like emergency response, health, education, administration, finance, social welfare; development planning, etc.
DRM Program in India • Courses first customized and offered by EPC, Ahmedabad
– With new module on “India Perspective”. It incorporated issues, initiatives and learning’s from India in the form of case studies, readings and presentations
– Offered 7 online courses– Customised for stakeholders from Tamil Nadu with a new
module focusing on “coastal zone management”– Offered course specifically for UNDP- India team members
• NIDM took up the initiative in October 2006– Started offering the original course developed by WBI. – Over 400 people registered for the comprehensive course– announcements were advertised in the local newspapers– Offered 6 online courses
DRM Program in India • Delivery Mechanism
– Building resources• Does not require intensive human resource. A small trainer team constituting
of one administrator and 1or 2 facilitators can manage a group of 40 • EPC engaged alumini’s as facilitators with 1 in-house coordinator• NIDM has a large in-house trainer team with different task managers for
each course- A sustainable approach
– Self sustaining finance model• Minimal fees of Rs 1000 to Rs. 1500 per participant
– From virtual to face to face interaction• An interactive session was orgainsed by Oxfam America and EPC in
Chennai on 11th October 2005.
Feedback from participants• Knowledge exchange:
• The courses have helped in learning new things from each other and from the shared documents like best practices, lessons learnt, websites and networks.
• Participants appreciate exposure to case studies and methods used in management of disasters and interaction with resource persons.
• Interaction with peer group and experts• Improving performance in professional career
• Some believe that the knowledge gained from the course helped them to execute things in a different way and gain confidence of subordinates
• Conducting training courses• one of the participant (Dr. Esther Chelule) has facilitated a course for two
weeks on disaster management at AMREF HQ Kenya, with good results• Skill development
• led to skill improvement in report writing and using web as a learning tool• strengthened conceptual skills and capacity for developing DM programs
with broader perspective.• Helped to foresee the events and plan out to reduce the impact and likely
losses
Feedback from participants• Follow up activities:
• Form a network or a group, which continues the learning and knowledge sharing process.
• Create a web based Alumni MIS• Organize a forum or an e-group where the professionals and
practitioners can share their real time experiences • E-Newsletter or website with updates and references • Organize annual or bi-annual seminar for the course participants • Organize similar training programs in other areas of disaster
management • Organize a three days learning workshop-giving opportunity for the
participants to present their work and experiences• Develop a case book on selected best works of the participants • Extend the duration of the courses or provide additional time to
those participants who need to travel for projects during the course duration
Benefits and Challenges• Advantages
– Wider Outreach– Cut on travel and logistics cost– Flexibility
• Content adjustment• Timing
– Horizontal knowledge exchange– Networking– Reach experts not easily accessible otherwise– Study without interruption of work. – Apply technology later in their everyday work
Benefits and Challenges• Challenges
– Access to internet– Readiness of partners
• Use of technology• DL• Content
– Assessing the learning progress– Not suitable for each participant profile
