Law and Disaster Risk Reduction Course

Overview

With a focus on disaster law in Aotearoa New Zealand, upskill online with our University of Canterbury Institute of Law, Emergencies and Disasters (LEAD) experts. Developed by Dr John Hopkins and the LEAD team members from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.

Gain an understanding of how law intersects with disaster to effectively deliver preparations for disaster response and recovery. With a focus on disaster law in Aotearoa New Zealand, upskill online with our University of Canterbury Institute of Law, Emergencies and Disasters (LEAD) experts.

Having a handle on relevant law is crucial when preparing for disasters and reducing the risk of harmful impacts for communities and organisations.

Join us online to equip yourself with an understanding of how disaster and law intersect around the globe, with a specific focus on disaster law and disaster management in Aotearoa New Zealand. You'll explore the role of law in preparing for, preventing, and responding to disasters, and how to use disaster law frameworks for disaster planning and governance.

You'll gain an understanding of the use of emergency powers and human rights in disasters, and the dangers that poor legal frameworks can create for people and communities. Such knowledge is essential for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster risk management (DRM) professionals and volunteers – as well as those working in local or central government planning, or teaching in the field. 

Developed by researchers from the award-winning University of Canterbury Institute of Law, Emergencies and Disasters (LEAD) this online course provides the foundational insights you need to effectively legally prepare for and manage disaster response and recovery. 

This course is ideal for

• Emergency management and volunteer staff working for disaster-management organisations, such as regional and local councils or government agencies
• Policy advisors
• Organisational leaders, planners and facility managers
• Health, safety and wellbeing or risk management professionals
• People with an interest in disaster management and emergency preparedness 

What you'll learn
 

• The concept of law and its interaction with disaster management.
• How domestic disaster law frameworks integrate with and are influenced by international disaster law principles and agreements
• The use of emergency powers and human rights in disasters.
• How to address particular population requirements through disaster law, particularly Māori, Pacific people and women.
• How to use legal preparedness in disaster planning and disaster governance.

Upon completing this course, you will have gained an understanding of how law operates across the disaster cycle and its critical role in disaster risk reduction and management (DRR and DRM). This course illustrates that disasters are socially constructed phenomena, heavily influenced by legal frameworks. With this knowledge, you can better identify where law intersects with disasters and utilise this insight to advocate for, and utilise good legal practice in the field.

This understanding is vital not only for those working in disaster contexts but also for broader societal awareness, integrating good disaster law practice into daily considerations rather than isolating them within the disaster management community. 

How it works

Law and Disaster Risk Reduction is flexible, enabling you to plan your study around your other commitments – provided you meet assessment deadlines. You can choose to study online when it suits you during the nine-week learning period, with a one-week study break in the middle of your course to take a break, or catch up. 

We recommend completing around 6 hours of study a week during the learning period (excluding the study break). After the course ends, there will be a two-week period for marking and feedback.

Course outline

The course is divided into seven modules that you'll work your way through over the nine weeks of learning. Each module includes specific learning objectives, educational content across a range of media, activities to apply what you've learnt, plus a 'temperature check' survey to make sure you're getting what you need as a learner.

Module 1: Why Law Matters in Disasters
Learn about the importance of disasters and their management to modern societies, exploring the concepts of disaster, law, and the disaster cycle as a process.

Module 2: The Concept of Disaster Law
Learn the key elements and fundamental principles of both international and domestic disaster law, exploring global 'soft law' frameworks, the challenges of establishing formal international frameworks, and examples of regional and bi-lateral cooperation.

Module 3: Vulnerability and Human Rights
Learn the concept of vulnerability and human rights and how they can be used in the disaster context to mitigate the impact of disasters on those who are vulnerable.

Module 4: Gender Equity and Indigenous Peoples
Learn how human vulnerability is shaped by circumstances, with some groups more susceptible due to social roles or historical injustices, including gender-based assumptions and the impacts of colonisation on Indigenous Peoples.

Module 5: Prevention and Preparedness
Learn about the critical role of law in disaster prevention and preparedness, elements of the disaster cycle that often precede the events themselves and may not typically be classified as 'disaster law'.

Module 6: Response for Disasters
Explore the need for exceptional government powers in the immediate aftermath of emergencies like earthquakes and floods. You'll examine the limits of ordinary governmental authority, the extent of necessary emergency powers for effective response, and the crucial balance to maintain democratic integrity.

Module 7: Recovery for Disasters
Explore the keys to disaster resilience and the importance of long-term recovery strategies. Learn how legal preparedness, through robust frameworks and clear command lines, enhances resilience by efficiently managing disasters before they occur.

Assessments

• End of course quiz = 20% 
• Graded discussion and peer review = 40%
• Disaster law report = 40%

Your course total grade is calculated based on the weighting of each assessment. To pass the course you need a course total of over 50 out of 100. You may attempt each assessment up to two times. You do not need a passing grade for every single assessment, but you do need to engage with/complete all assessments.