Risk Assessment and Decision Support System for Environmental Impacts related to Climate Change

The course seeks to impart a broad understanding of the methods, tools and skills required for conducting analyses of environmental impacts, vulnerability and risks posed by climate change in the context of global environmental changes. The course emphasizes the integration of disciplinary knowledge and covers a wide range of subjects, including scenario development, environmental risk analysis, impact and vulnerability assessment, decision support systems. Attention is paid to both, theoretical and practical aspects of vulnerability and risk assessment, underpinned by examples from recent international research.

Following an introduction to the key concepts and the state of the art in environmental impact, risk and vulnerability assessment methodologies, the course will provide an overview of the main assessment and management tools applied to relevant case studies.
Then, we will go on to the analysis of Decision Support Systems (DSSs) for the assessment and management of environmental impacts of climate change. An introduction to the concept of DSS and their applications will provide a preliminary insight into the theme. Review of some existing Decision Support System to be compared and evaluated will add technical and analytical aspects. Application to a case study will be instrumental in order to explore flexibility of DSSs and the use of existing tools.

Know the basic linguistic terminology and understand the texts that use it.
Knowing how to use linguistic terminology in all the application and communication processes of the subjects acquired.
Knowing how to formulate and argue simple hypotheses, also developing a critical approach to the evaluation of alternative hypotheses.
Knowing how to interact with peers and the tutor, in a critical and respectful way.
Being able to consult critically the reference texts and the bibliography contained in them.
Know how to use dedicated tools and software.

Basic knowledge of some computer tools and programs, including some notions of GIS (Geographical Information System)

-Regulatory frameworks for environmental risk assessment and management related to climate change.
-Approaches and methodologies for Climate Change Impact-Vulnerability-Adaptation-Risk Assessment.
-Decision Support Systems (DSS) for evaluation and management of environmental impacts of climate change.
-Risk Assessment and management tools applied to case studies.
-Overview of international on-going research projects.
-Case study application of Risk Assessment, Resilience Analysis and DSS (practical application).
-Discussion of case study application and final remarks.

Compulsory:
Slides sent by the teacher and lecture notes

Optional:
European Climate Risk Assessment, EEA Report 01/2024, www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/european-climate-risk-assessment
IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/

The written exam consists of a summary report of the practical applications compiled by the participants and evaluated (60 % of final score).
Evaluation of ppt presentations concerning issues discussed during the lectures and provided by students during the course will also be considered (40 % of final score)

written

28-30L: mastery of the topics covered in class; excellent ability to collect and/or interpret data, formulating independent judgments; use of appropriate technical terminology;
26-27: good knowledge of the topics covered in class; good ability to collect and/or interpret data, formulating independent judgments; familiarity with technical terminology;
24-25: not always in-depth knowledge of the topics covered in class; fair ability to collect and/or interpret data, formulating independent judgments; not always correct use of technical terminology;
22-23: often superficial knowledge of the topics covered in class; sufficient ability to collect and/or interpret data, formulating independent judgments; poor use of appropriate technical terminology;
18-21: knowledge of the topics covered in class is sometimes incomplete; limited ability to collect and/or interpret data, formulating independent judgments; little use of technical terminology.

Lectures.
Working groups and presentations concerning issues discussed during the lectures, provided by students.

The course may be enriched by the participation of some external lecturers. Attendance is required. Daily preparation is also required. The assignments are set out above in the course syllabus. Academic honesty is an important part of university training. While students may discuss assignments with their classmates and others, they are expected to make sure any written material they submit is their own work. Students are expected to know how to cite the work of others and present a bibliography of the research texts that were used.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Climate change and energy" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development