Duration
20h Th, 10h Pr
Number of credits
| Master in geography, global change, research focus (Odd years, organized in 2025-2026) | 4 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This course offers an in-depth introduction to disaster risk, combining theoretical frameworks, case studies, guest lectures, and experiential insights.
It aims to equip students with the ability to conduct systemic and critical analyses of the interactions between environmental, social, and economic factors within contexts of inequality, in order to prepare them to design adaptation and resilience strategies tailored to specific territories and vulnerable populations.
Grounded in an interdisciplinary and multi-scalar approach, the course provides a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms through which environmental transformations-such as pollution, climate change, and ecosystem degradation-disproportionately affect populations based on their social status, place of residence, and level of vulnerability.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Understand and apply key concepts
Apply theoretical frameworks from environmental sciences, social sciences, and geography to analyze the interactions between environment and risk.
- Critically analyze disaster risk situations
Identify the social and territorial dynamics of inequality in terms of exposure, vulnerability, and access to resources.
- Evaluate institutional and societal responses
Critically assess public policies and risk governance frameworks, questioning power relations and mechanisms of exclusion.
- Develop practical and reflective skills
Adopt a reflective and ethically grounded stance on their own role as future professionals engaged in disaster risk management.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
The course is given in French.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Theoretical presentations, case studies, feedback, and - when appropriate - smaster classes, and arts-based learning activities.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Further information:
Face-to-face courses (if conditions permit), mandatory attendance for feedbacks, master classes, and arts-based learning activities, as defined by the course instructor(s) at the start of the academic year, whether they take place during daytime or evening hours; and field trips.
Course materials and recommended or required readings
PowerPoint presentations are available in pdf. A list of selected papers is also provided (in Franch and English).
The course will be evaluated on the basis of a report produced by the student and presented orally with PowerPoint in class.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
Contacts
Pierre OZER
Département des Sciences et Gestion de l'Environnement
Université de Liège
Avenue de Longwy, 185 - B-6700 ARLON
E-Mail : pozer@uliege.be