Natural risks and disasters

Duration

48h Th, 4d FW

Number of credits

Lecturer

Serge Brouyère, Benjamin Dewals, Hans-Balder Havenith, Aurelia Hubert

Coordinator

Aurelia Hubert

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

All year long, with partial in January

Schedule

Schedule online

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)

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 course


Further information:

Face-to-face lectures, compulsory attendance at the four field trips (in Belgium and neighboring countries).

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