MA in Disaster Risk Management & Climate Governance
I recently completed a second master's degree. Ever since finishing my MSc in Environmental Management and applying those insights to my work with students, I have been keen to explore the themes of climate change and climate adaptation in more detail.
For me, the main issue with communication around climate change has always been its intangible aspect, the sense that there is little one can do to influence climate trajectories and the inaction that this perception produces. In recent years, however, the effects of climate change have been presented in increasingly tangible ways, through the growing frequency of 'natural' disasters affecting populations around the world. These events are no longer distant scenarios, but immediate realities that demand our attention and response.
Disasters provide a focal point for people to witness the effects of our changing climate in concrete terms. Moreover, they highlight the complex systems at play beyond the natural environment itself: the social, economic, and political structures that either amplify or mitigate risk. The decision about which specific course of study to pursue became deeply personal when my partner's family home in Chennai, India was hit by severe (though by no means rare) flooding, leaving her home submerged under nearly two metres of water.
Flooding in Chennai is becoming worse and more frequent due to climate change, but the causes extend well beyond meteorological factors. Poor city planning, inadequate drainage infrastructure, and mismanaged building development and street systems all contribute to the increasing vulnerability of the city's residents. This experience crystallised for me how disaster risk management sits at the intersection of environmental science, urban planning, governance, and community resilience.
I chose Structuralia's Master's Degree in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Governance because of several factors. Firstly, the course is delivered entirely remotely, giving me the opportunity to maintain my professional commitments whilst studying. I found that I was able to apply the content directly to my work with students at BUas, creating a valuable feedback loop between theory and practice. Secondly, the curriculum proved to be incredibly varied and intellectually demanding:
Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change: Concepts and context
Prospective and corrective risk management
Climate variability and climate change
ICT and GIS applied in the management of disaster risk and climate change
I chose to undertake an additional course during this period to delve more deeply into this theme: Esri's GIS for Climate Action
Disaster risk financial management and climate finance
Disaster management and recovery
Climate governance
Global warming mitigation tools
Climate change adaptation tools
A final project (in my case, an intervention design)
The faculty brought considerable experience and knowledge to the subjects being taught, drawing on their professional backgrounds in (mostly) Latin American contexts.
The format of the teaching was based upon video presentations that illustrated the concepts through numerous case studies, helping me to understand the complex and interconnected issues at play. These videos were complemented by substantial long-form articles and academic papers on the topics, as well as links to further reading materials. I found this approach to be an effective way to learn, as it allowed me to pursue depth on topics that particularly resonated with my interests and professional context.
The final project offered a flexible approach, taking the form of either a literature review, intervention design, or applied experiment. As I am not currently in a position to conduct experimental research and generally prefer applied knowledge over purely theoretical work, I chose the intervention design option.
My project was based on the principle of formally integrating leisure communities into disaster risk management frameworks at a municipal level. This approach connects the concepts of community-based disaster risk management with the social capital inherent in leisure communities. I will share the project results and findings in a subsequent post.
All in all, I am very pleased that I completed this master's degree. That said, I must offer some critical observations about the quality of the assessment structure for each module, which primarily consisted of multiple-choice questions and some optional supplementary activities that were not formally graded.
The quality and rigour of these examinations was quite variable across different modules. I feel that this assessment approach did not adequately prepare students for the demands of the final project, which required substantially different skills. The educator in me found this disconnect quite frustrating, as I believe assessment should scaffold learning progressively rather than presenting such a stark contrast between coursework and capstone requirements.
In any case, I am happy to add ‘Master of Arts’ to my growing list of accomplishments as well as exploring the new insights and connections I have gained through this study.
