This course prepares you comprehensively for potentially dangerous situations during assignments abroad. Through interactive learning methods and practical case studies, you will learn to develop a sense for dangerous situations and take preventive measures. A central aspect of the training is de-escalation in order to react appropriately to aggression and violence and to protect yourself in the long term.
We will also discuss how to deal with colleagues after stressful events and strategies for coping with stress in general and on assignments abroad. You are invited to bring your questions and previous experience to the course and exchange ideas with other participants in order to reflect together on the content taught and use it to prepare for your assignment abroad.

The course will cover following topics:

Preparation for travelling abroad: arrival at the airport, travelling in the country of assignment, selection of accommodation (e.g. hotels) from a safety perspective.

Behaviour and handling using de-escalation strategies: with criminals, in situations with a latent threat from a weapon, in the event of an acute threat from a stabbing weapon, with people who are highly stressed and prone to violent behaviour, at legal and illegal checkpoints, in the event of an ambush with an assault in a vehicle, against authorities/official representatives of state power

Handling of your own and others' stress in extraordinary situations and of colleagues who are experiencing an acute stressful event.

Knowledge about the types and effects of firearms, mines and hand grenades and about hazard-minimising behaviour in crowds, traffic accidents and pursuits abroad.

The overall objective is to equip you with basic technical skills to create custom maps using a free and open-source mapping software (QGIS). You will acquire the technical skill to visualize what is happening where. Mapping provides an interesting alternative to Excel or statistical software thereby exploring a new dimension of data. The course will teach you the basics of mapping, finding and understanding different geospatial data, visualizing data in line with standards and understanding how to analyze data. The course will explore how this visual data can support national policies, humanitarian programmes, environmental policies, international security and development work, among other applications.

Additionally you can book an optional 2hr session (Module 5), where you will learn:

-        How to find and use popular functions of the data processing toolbox

-        How to use animation to visualize time-lapse

- The basics of raster calculations

Humanity is confronted with fast-changing environmental disruptions impacting the health and wellbeing of people worldwide. By now, the complexity and interconnectedness of climate related health risks threatens gains accomplished for public health and sustainable development globally.

The climate crisis has built up to a global health emergency affecting particularly the most vulnerable populations in low-resource and humanitarian contexts where an overlap of climate and humanitarian crisis exists. While health systems are struggling to keep pace with the rising number of disasters, there is a deep discrepancy between climate related health demands and responsive, adaptive capacity of public health systems and stakeholders leaving the health needs of the most vulnerable unmet.   

Globally, health actors and health systems are challenged with a new dimension of health risks and frequently recurring system shocks of climate related disasters, droughts, floods, food insecurity, heat waves, infectious disease, migration, and armed conflicts.

How can human health be protected in a changing climate? Which concepts, measures and tools exist to address arising challenges and health threats?

Using a system approach this two-day workshop combines theoretical lectures and practical case studies, group work and discussion. Participants will learn how climate change affects human health and health systems especially in low-resource and humanitarian contexts. They will be enabled to apply a planetary health lens to their work, to consider public health in dependency to environmental and social determinants, to strengthen climate and environment resilient health systems and support efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of health systems.

The course requires basic knowledge on climate change adaptation (it is possible to attend first our introductory course: Introduction to Main Concepts and Terminologies in Climate Change Adaptation, but it is not obligatory). If you are interested in gaining credit towards a Certificate of Advanced Studies in "Anticipatory Humanitarian Action", you need to complete this course and two additional specific CCA courses, under prerequisite of passing the exam in form of individual work after completion of all courses (please also see the general exam regulation of aha).