GEO2409: Environmental Geography, Hazard and Disaster Management

• Course Description: Environmental Geography, Hazard and Disaster Management: This course focusses on environmental management and conservation both locally and internationally. By the completion of the course, students should have a general awareness of the importance of environmental management and conservation, as well as the efforts, methods, and advantages of managing it. Course content: Definition of the environment, management, conservation, environmental components and characteristics, management in built and natural environments, development of international environmental law, environmental issues, ecosystem and economic systems, economic and environmental values, conservation, principles of natural resource conservation, natural resource conservation methods and techniques. On the other hand, the course will provide students with the knowledge and abilities necessary to analyze, mitigate, plan for, respond to, and recover from natural and human-caused hazards and disasters, with a focus on resilience and sustainable practices. Differentiate between hazards (possible dangers) and disasters (actualized repercussions). Hazards can be natural (earthquakes, floods, storms) or artificial (industrial accidents, conflicts, technical failures).
• Course objectives

By the end of this course, students should successfully be able to:

1. Understanding Key Concepts of Environmental geography
2. Foster awareness of the components and characteristics of both built and natural environments,
3. Analyze the interconnections between ecosystems and economic systems, appreciating the economic and environmental values of natural resources.
4. Learn the core principles of natural resource conservation and explore effective methods and techniques for sustainability.
5. Differentiate between hazards and disasters, and acquire skills in risk analysis, mitigation, and emergency response.

• Required Materials
• Textbook
• Maps and Atlases for economic geography
• Geographic information systems (GIS) and simulation software for visualizing geological processes.
• Journals
• Environmental models

Environmental models such as Soil test kits