The consequences of climate change are both unpredictable and extreme. The understanding, assessment and knowledge of threats are essential in order to take the right decisions and actions in risk management.

The picture of threats and risks varies from region to region. Therefore, it is important to have knowledge of the macro-regional perspective. In our case the Baltic Sea Region.

The project Cascade – Community Safety Actions for Supporting Climate Adaptation – has worked for a better management of climate change related risks and hazards on a local level 2019-2021. The primarily target groups for Cascade are local administrators and civil protection practitioners. However, the project also sees the importance of communicating the outcome to higher education.

This is a short version of the training course in disaster risk reduction (DRR) suitable for usage as a whole, or in parts, to be included in courses about climate change – risk management at university level. The core content is climate risk assessment and the background and implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR in the Baltic Sea Region.

Aims

The learning material focuses on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) linked to climate change in the Baltic Sea Region. The following aspects are explained and discussed:

  • Climate change in the Baltic Sea Region – drivers and consequences.

  • Disaster Risk Reduction – targets, hazards, priorities.

    • Agenda 2030 and Paris Agreement.
    • Sendai Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction.

  • Risk management policy – Climate Change Agreement vs Disaster Risk Reduction.

  • Examples of practical exercises.

The emphasis is especially to strengthen the Sustainable Development Goals # 4 – Quality Education, # 13 – Climate Action, and # 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Target group

The material – either in its entirety or in parts – is primarily suited for educators, teachers, and students in Higher Education within the Baltic Sea Region. However, the material is free available (CC-licensed) and open for everybody interested.

Lessons about risk management due to climate change in the Baltic Sea Region by The Cascade Project is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Content

The content is divided into lessons, glossary and exercises:

Lesson 1: Climate Change

Presentation lesson 1
Notes for lesson 1

Lesson 2: Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

Presentation lesson 2.
Notes for lesson 2 (pdf).

Lesson 3: Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation

Presentation lesson 3.
Notes for lesson 3 (pdf).

Glossary: List of terminology with explanations

Glossary.

Exercise 1: Climate Adaptation Game (SMHI)

Climate Adaptation Game (pdf).

Lessons about risk management due to climate change in the Baltic Sea Region by The Cascade Project is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Contacts

The material is mainly based on the training course in disaster risk reduction and climate risk assessment developed for civil protection experts and city planners within the Cascade project.

For questions regarding the content presented here, please contact Baltic University Programme Finland, [email protected].