Regulation and Communication Strategies

Recommended Prerequisites

The students must have good knowledge of the English language.

Teaching Methods

Lessons are of theoretical and practical whit a component of oral presentation with the participation of students. The possibility of applying the learned concepts to current reality and ongoing research projects is highly valued. The lessons that includes discussion of mandatory texts, there’s a summary of the texts by the teacher followed by a collective discussion. The main goal is to develop in the students a capacity for autonomous interpretation on the main ideas and concepts reflected in the authors ' texts, contextualizing them in accordance with the research interests of the students.

Learning Outcomes

The students should acquire a thorough understanding on the different theories of risk regulation, both in its epistemological and cognitive dimensions as well as the practical application of these various theoretical frameworks. The discussion on the concepts of risk control and risk communication, linked to their methodological and empirical components, should allow the creation of competences for public policy evaluation of civil protection and safety collective strategies. The students should get introduced with the methods of critical analysis of risk communication in order to enable them to design effective processes of risk communication.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

The main objective is to familiarize the students with theories that address the risk regulations schemes, especially in its legal framework and its relationship with the economics of disasters and catastrophes. The course also addresses a critical analysis of risk communication strategies. Themes: organizational structure of civil protection. The organizational and social impact of natural disasters and catastrophes. Theories of risk communication. Critical analysis of theories of risk communication and alternative proposals.

Head Lecturer(s)

José Manuel Oliveira Mendes

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Report of a seminar or field trip: 30.0%
Research work: 70.0%

Bibliography

BATES, Frederick L.; PEACOCK, alter Gillis - Living conditions, disasters and development: an approach to cross-cultural comparisons. Athens:University of Georgia Press, 2008

GOVERNING after crisis: the politics of investigation, accountability and learning.Ed. Arjen Boin, Allan McConnell, Paul 't Hart. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,2008

ON RISK and disaster:lessons from Hurricane Katrina. Ed. Ronald J. Daniels,Donald F. Kettl, and Howard Kunreuther. Philadelphia:University of Pennsylvania Press,2006

ORGANIZATIONAL encounters with risk.Ed. Bridget Hutter and Michael Power.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press 2005

PERROW, Charles - The next catastrophe: reducing our vulnerabilities to natural, industrial, and terrorist disasters. Princeton:Princeton University Press,2007

POWER, Michael - Organized uncertainty: designing a world of risk management.Oxford: Oxford University Press,2008

RENN, Ortwin - Risk governance: coping with uncertainty in a complex world.London: Earthscan,2008