INCLUsive Disaster Education (INCLUDE)

The COVID-19 pandemic, the contemporary biological hazard has been a turning point that has changed the landscape of contemporary society in terms of various aspects such as human lives, social inequality and the economy. Apart from the said impacts, the education sector in fact had to go through a dramatic change as in order to prevent major disruption in the education sector, there was a significant increase in e-learning where education was converted to be delivered remotely via digital platforms. In this context, online and distance-based education in the field of disaster became prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the emergency shift of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) education from a physical classroom setting to an online set up was no stranger to several challenges. Further, this change was not a smooth transition for some of the learner communities, and these challenges have excluded some of them from receiving equal opportunities in education. The need for solid preparedness in converting a physical classroom into an online was further highlighted. To tackle these challenges, this project aimed to reimagine online distance learning education so that it better supports the diverse DRR community.

Project Overview

Project posters and flyers

Objectives

  1. To understand online, distance learning strategies currently used in DRR education and their effectiveness, by taking into consideration in promoting gender equality and sensitivity and also in addressing differences in relation to the access and use by underrepresented groups.
  2. To develop a framework to reimagine online distance learning education so that it better supports the diverse DRR community, also in addressing both natural and biological hazards and their integration
  3. To design an innovative University-Industry digital learning platform to provide high quality inclusive digital education to DRR community
  4. To explore the opportunities of the use of disruptive technologies in online distance learning education in DRR
  5. To propose a digital competence framework for educators in building capacity to implement online and distance teaching and learning in DRR

Lead partner details:

  • Global Disaster Resilience Centre (GDRC) at the University of Huddersfield, UK
  • The project team:
    • Professor Dilanthi Amaratunga
    • Professor Richard Haigh
    • Dr Chamindi Malalgoda
    • Aravindi Samarakkody
    • Anuradha Senanayake

Time period
30/06/2021 – 29/06/2023 (24 months)

Erasmus+ program of the European Commission under Grant ID 2020-1-UK01-KA226-HE-094662

Disclaimer Statement: The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Funding acknowledgement

€288,720

Grant value

Project partners

University of Huddersfield

University of Central Lancashire, UK

Lund University, Sweden

Vilniaus Gedimino Technikos Universitetas, Lithuania

Keio University, Japan

Output 1

Output 1 report on online, distance learning strategies used in DRR education and their effectiveness to identify their success factors and associated issues and problems:

Output 2

Output 2 report with a framework to reimagine online distance learning education that can support the diverse DRR community

Output 3

The output 3 report on an inclusive University-Industry digital learning platform to provide high-quality inclusive digital education to the DRR community

Online platform

University-Industry digital learning platform

Output 4

Output 4 report with case studies on the use of disruptive technologies for disaster risk reduction

Output 5

Output 5 report on online research repository with open educational resources

Output 6

Output 6 report with a digital competence framework for DRR educators to develop digital pedagogical competences

Key deliverables and reports

Publications

Gallery