Duration
48h Th, 4d FW
Number of credits
| Advanced Master in Risk and Disaster Management in the Anthropocene Era | 5 crédits |
Lecturer
Serge Brouyère, Benjamin Dewals, Hans-Balder Havenith, Aurelia Hubert
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
All year long, with partial in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The course is composed of five parts:
- Part 1: Land subsidence and groundwater salinizations (Prof. Alain Dassargues)
- Part 2: Flood risk (Prof. Benjamin Dewals)
- Part 3: (Prof. Hans-Balder Havenith)
- Part 4: (Prof. Aurelia Hubert)
- Part 5: (Prof. Pierre Ozer)
Based on real-world examples, Part 2 of the course provides an introduction to the complex issues of flood risk assessment and management. The course addresses shortly the following topics: types of floods, flood frequency estimation, influence of environmental changes, vulnerability and impacts, structural and non-structural measures for flood risk management, EU Floods Directive.
Part 3: overview on earthquake and landslide hazards and related risk. The commonly applied method of probabilistic seismic hazard assessment will be explained and some exercices will be done in class.
Part 4: Karst Risk
Part 1 focuses on the factors and processes of rock dissolution in "soluble" rocks, as well as the resulting landforms and deposits. Part 2 addresses karst hazards, with the primary one being linked to sinkholes, but other associated hazards are also covered (flooding, landslides, groundwater pollution, and specific issues related to dams, tunnels, and mines).
Volcanic Risk
Part 1 details fundamental knowledge (magma, structure, relief, frequency law, duration, origin of volcanism in relation to plate tectonics, eruption types, and the Volcanic Explosivity Index). Part 2 deals with volcanic hazards and risks (dense pyroclastic flows, sector collapses and debris avalanches, ash fall, ballistic projectiles, lava flows, volcanic gases, and phreatic explosions). Indirect volcanic hazards are also discussed. Methods for volcanic hazard assessment are explained, with an emphasis on the importance of radar interferometry as a key technique.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:understand the physical processes inducing land subsidence and groundwater salinisations
- analyse a real case-study with respect to the processes described hereabove
- understand the main physical processes influencing different types of floods
- interpret the results of flood frequency analysis
- identify main the main impacts of floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, karst system
- suggest relevant measures for flood, karst, volcanic, seismic risk management
- understand the difference between hazards and risks
- perception of risks related to rare extreme geo-events with large impact potential
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Part 1 : general notions of physics and earth sciences are required.
Part 2 of the course relies on fundamentals in physics (mechanics) and probability theory.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course is based on theoretical lectures and on discussions with the students about real-world case studies. Since the course focuses more on a deep understanding of the concepts, the student is requested to take an active part in the lessons, during which the teachers foster direct interactions with the audience.
For part 4, the lectures are supplemented with personal student work, including a study of karst risk using the concrete example of Wallonia (database), with a report to be submitted, and an example from the literature to develop, with a focus on methodology, in an oral presentation. For volcanic risk, students will study a given volcano, with part 1 consisting of a cartographic analysis to present its morphology, population density, and elements at risk, all of which will be presented in an oral presentation.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face lectures.
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Slides used during the lectures may be downloaded from eCampus.
The teacher recommends the reading of complementary material. All documents are made available on eCampus.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam
Written work / report
Other : Oral presentations and QCM
Further information:
For part 1, a personal report is required about the understanding and analysis of a real case study (if possible, located in the origin country of the student). The report evaluation is done on the basis of the understanding of the processes and on the basis of the personal approach adopted by the student.
For Part 2 of the course, a written exam takes place in January and in September.
For part 3, an oral-written exam will be organized in January.
For part 4, the average will be calculated from the two sections on karst and volcanic risks, which are evaluated separately. Karst risk: a multiple-choice quiz on the material, a report on the karst risk of La Roche au Faucon using the Walloon database, and an oral presentation on an article about karst risk.
Volcanic risk: A cartographic project and oral presentation based on a publication to explain how the hazard, risk, or vulnerability is assessed in the case of the studied volcano.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
The course is taught in French, during the first semester.
The schedule and the room should be checked on CELCAT.
Contacts
Aurelia Ferrari: Aurelia.Ferrari@uliege.be
Benjamin Dewals: B.Dewals@uliege.be
Alain Dassargues: Alain.Dassargues@uliege.be
Hans-Balder Havenith: HB.Havenith@uliege.be
Pierre Ozer: pozer@uliege.be
Association of one or more MOOCs
Items online
Volcanism
Volcanism
Karst
Karst