GLOBAL ACADEMY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
The idea of ‘being’ resilient has been a common refrain in the private and public sectors for many years. For much of this time resilience was considered to be a buzzword by many, especially because of the theoretical discussions about its origin, meaning and use. More recently resilience has gained a practical relevance – utilised in government policy and enacted in private sector operations. In the context of crisis and disaster management, critical infrastructure protection, and increasingly, national and international security, resilience has become a core approach promoted by international organisations and governments across the world.
Regardless of its popularity, resilience has remained vague because of its multiple origins and diverse meanings. While many organisations seek to build resilience, how it is done, and the results, are mixed. So, what does being resilient entail and what can it achieve in different contexts?
This modular 10-week course, mixing self-paced and instructor-led interactive learning, is intended as a “master class” for private and public sector actors wanting to understand what resilience is, how resilience can be built in different ways, and under varying contexts, and how resilience ‘thinking’ can be translated in practice to improve organisation agility and adaptability in the face of diverse disruptions. Closing the gap between theory and practice, the course will cover the history and the various meanings of “resilience”, the principal theoretical models, as well as practical strategies and means to develop, implement, measure and report resilience in a consistent manner in any organisation.
TARGET AUDIENCES
The course is designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of participants who share a desire to understand how resilience can be enacted in practice. The course will be appropriate for:
Organisational leaders in both public and private sectors wanting to advance resilience in their respective organisations.
Functional management, experts or consultants in crisis and disaster management, business continuity management, risk management and other areas where resilience is becoming a core theme.
Policy officers in international and national institutions tasked with developing, monitoring and measuring resilience in their respective policy areas.
Academics and instructors who want to improve their teaching capabilities in resilience.
The course is designed in a modular fashion to suit professionals whose time is either limited or availability is unpredictable. The course is run as one of two approaches:
As a block course over 10 weeks with a mix of self-lead learning and face-to-face lessons on a Friday/Saturday.
In a modular fashion, with participants completing the separate modules in their own time, and with less interaction with the course facilitators.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The course provides a detailed examination of resilience, across its broad spectrum of forms, particularly focusing on how the theory of resilience can be converted into practical application. Examples and case studies are presented and discussed where relevant and appropriate in order to demonstrate the modern practice of resilience building across sectors.
Participants become familiar with the origins and the relevant variations of resilience, understand the differences between different theories of resilience and the implications to applying resilience in their respective domains. With a sound understanding of theory and the applied methods offered during the course, students gain the necessary knowledge and competencies to develop, implement, measure and report resilience independently in their respective domains.
Specifically, the course covers:
The origins of resilience, its meaning and relevance across sectors
The principles of resilience
The types of resilience, similarities and differences, and focus of each
The measurement of different forms of resilience
Approaches to measuring resilience
Resilience and governance
Resilience innovation
Cultures of resilience.
ASSESSMENT
Quizzes after each module (with cumulative score at end of course).
Discussion forum postings
Final project (group or individual) on a topic agreed on with course facilitators.
COURSE TYPE
The course can be run in two ways: as a complete 10-week program, and as a series of modules completed separately at the participant’s pace.
The course content is designed to be adapted to cover specific organisational requirements within the broader topics for each module (below). In this way, generic information and experience concerning resilience can be overlayed with specific advice and information that suits the course participants, and is aligned with their organisations’ requirements.
COURSE STRUCTURE
Orientation
Welcome to the programme
Practical information
Module I: Resilience: What is it?
Module II: The Principles of Resilience
Module III: Types of resilience
Module IV: Measuring Resilience
Module V: Measuring different types of resilience
Module VI: Focus: Socio-technical resilience in CI systems
Module VII: Focus: Quantification of Achievement in Multi-Actor Networks
Module VIII: Resilience and Governance
Module IX: Partnerships for Resilience
Module X: Resilience and Innovation
Module XI: Building Resilience in Socio-Technical Systems
Module XII: Building a Culture of Resilience
PARTICIPANT SUPPORT
10-week Block Course:
Participants have face-to-face sessions with the course facilitators at least once per module.
Course Facilitators are available to participants by email and pre-arranged video conference.
All participants will be issued with a Course Handbook containing detailed background information, research, and case studies in line with the course modules.
Course participants will be supplied with a Resilience library of open access literature to support their self-study and as a reference tool for post-course support in their organisations.
Modular Course
Course Facilitators are available to participants by email.
All participants will be issued with a Course Handbook containing detailed background information, research, and case studies in line with the course modules.
Course participants will be supplied with a Resilience library of open access literature to support their self-study and as a reference tool for post-course support in their organisations
COURSE CONVENORS
Tlm Prior PhD and Christian Fjäder PhD.
Christian Fjäder PhD.
Christian has extensive corporate experience in security, risk and resilience leadership in regional and global leadership roles in Australia, Asia, Europe and South America. In addition he has research and consulting experience in International Relations, geopolitics and global risk and resilience, as well as teaching experience in Geopolitics and global governance. He has a PhD in International Relations from the University of Sydney, MBA from Bond University, Master of Arts (International Relations) and Bachelor of International Studies from Flinders University, Australia.
Tim Prior PhD.
Tim has 15 years of experience in research and policy consulting on a range of fields centring on environmental and technical risk and the development of resilient social and technical systems. This experience covers the academic, public and private sectors in Europe, South-east Asia and Australia. During this time, Tim has been focused on creating new ways to think about and address today’s complex challenges. Tim speaks regularly as an invited guest at conferences and other events organised by Governments, think tanks and international organisations. He has published on themes as diverse as resilience, disaster management and recovery, critical infrastructure protection, artificial intelligence, social capital, environmental management, mining sustainability, agriculture and fisheries. His writing has appeared in academic journals, the media, expert publications, and technical reports.
