autumn 2025
SVF-3209 Climate change and resilient societies - 10 ECTS
Admission requirements
The eligible student must hold a bachelor’s degree from a relevant field of study. Prior knowledge of societal security, risk management, safety management, international relations, crisis management and emergency preparedness are recommended but not required.
Application code: 9371
Course content
This course provides knowledge about climate change as a societal threat and how societies can adapt. Built around the concept of resilient societies, this course centers on the role of natural hazards management, critical infrastructure and the link between mitigation and adaptation in the context of a changing climate. Taking a global perspective, the course aligns with the 2015 Paris Agreement and its focus on loss and damage in the context of climate change, including critical perspectives on climate change adaptation projects.Objectives of the course
Knowledge:
The student ...
- shall understand the science of climate change at a basic level.
- account for overlaps and differences between disaster risk reduction (DRR) and CCA
- contextualize the work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
- contrast central principles of CCA
- understand the connection between local, national, regional and global-level CCA
- appreciate how climate change interferes with natural hazard risks
- understand CCA funding frameworks
Skills:
The student ...
- shall be able to apply central theories of CCA to a concrete case
- discuss the relationship between DRR and CCA
- critically reflect on the nature and politics of CCA funding
- account for the way that climate change may affect the dynamics of key natural hazards
- reflect on the way that climate change may shape societal vulnerabilities
- reflect on the ways in which actors at different levels engage in CCA work
General competence:
The student ...
- shall understand the fundamentals of climate change science
- write up a case report applying aspects of CCA work to a particular case
- contextualize CCA work across levels
- place CCA funding and global frameworks within a wider geopolitical context
Teaching methods
Teaching methods include pre-recorded video lectures, podcasts, mandatory and optional reading material, live interactive live sessions online, and mandatory coursework assignments, approximately 28 hours of instruction.
The course is organized as module-based online learning, consisting of three separate modules that must be completed in succession:
Module 1: Science and politics of climate change
Module 2: Conceptual issues in climate change adaptation
Module 3: Building resilient societies
Coursework requires active engagement with lecture and reading material.
Schedule
Examination
| Examination: | Weighting: | Duration: | Grade scale: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off campus exam | 55/100 | 4 Days | A–E, fail F |
| Assignment | 15/100 | A–E, fail F | |
| Assignment | 15/100 | A–E, fail F | |
| Assignment | 15/100 | A–E, fail F |
More info about the assignment
There will be four examinations for this course.
There will be a module exam following each of the three teaching modules, and one individiual off campus exam at the end of the course.
- Module exam 1: Individual written assignment (15 %)
- Module exam 2: Individual written assignment (15 %)
- Module exam 3: Written assignment, individual or in groups of max. four students (15 %)
- Off Campus Exam (55 %)
- About the course
- Campus: Nettstudium |
- ECTS: 10
- Course code: SVF-3209
- Responsible unit
- Institutt for teknologi og sikkerhet
- Tidligere år og semester for dette emnet