The Master in Planning and Management of Natural Hazards takes a multidisciplinary approach to looking at natural hazards and how society can build resilience in the face of natural hazards. The course will build from a broad knowledge of natural hazard situations towards questions of policy development in the field of hazard mitigation. The course will cover the following topic areas:

· Environmental factors that combine to produce natural hazards

· The ecological, social and economic consequences of natural hazards and disasters

· Methods relevant to studying aspects of natural hazards and disasters

· Mitigation strategies

· Challenges and opportunities for policy development in the natural hazards field

· Future trends in planning for and managing natural hazards.

The course also provides various opportunities to expand expertise in the context of natural hazards via a choice of elective units. These opportunities include units that provide skills in population, physical and/or economic geography, land use planning, risk management, and Graphical Information System applications. The course also fosters the development of advanced skills in academic research via a supervised dissertation.

A candidate shall:

(a) hold an AQF Level 7 Bachelor degree from a recognised university in a related field of study, for example, Urban and Regional Planning, Geography or Environmental Science; or

(b) hold an AQF Level 8 Graduate Certificate in Planning and Management of Natural Hazards from UNE and attained at least a Credit grade point average in 24 credit points; or

(c) hold an AQF Level 8 Graduate Diploma in Planning and Management of Natural Hazards from UNE and attained at least a Credit grade point average in 48 credit points.