The Analysis of International Practices in Disaster Risk Management Higher Education

Caucasus Network for Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions (Sustainable Caucasus) in partnership with Geneva University is implementing the project “Strengthening Climate Adaptation Capacities in the South Caucasus: Enhancing Regional Cooperative Action for the Benefit of the Caucasus Mountain Region” (SCAC) supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The project aims at reducing the vulnerability of populations to climate-induced natural hazards and strengthening regional cooperation on climate change adaptation (CCA) and sustainable mountain development. 

One of the project’s expected outputs is to increase learning and teaching capacities in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the domain of disaster risk management (DRM) in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. For this reason preliminary and necessary step was to learn lessons from experiences in other countries: In terms of the above mentioned project we provide a comparative analysis of international practices, i.e. a higher education initiative focused on DRM and/or CCA.

The first edition of THE ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL PRACTICES IN DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT HIGHER EDUCATION  shows the critical role of HEIs in advancing DRM knowledge and practice and in generating a well-educated and risk aware population. These aspects are a necessary and urgent prerequisite not only for improving DRM/CCA higher education but also for building a resilient society, in the South Caucasus and beyond.