Ateneo - UPO

The topics covered include: ETHICS: the course offers a general overview of the mechanisms of social communication, with a particular focus on the ethical aspects of communication in health institutions and scientific disinformation. It will explore how communication influences public perception, trust in institutions, and social responsibility. PERSONAL IDENTITY: exploration of the concept of personal identity as a natural and social phenomenon. This part of the course focuses on understanding how personal identity is shaped by both innate and sociocultural factors. PUBLIC SPEAKING: fundamental techniques of communication in critical and emergency contexts. The course covers principles of effective communication, stress management, body language, and communication with media and the public. PROJECT MANAGEMENT: an overview of project management in disaster and crisis scenarios. The course covers planning, control, team management, and the analysis of specific cases. ORGANISATIONAL THEORIES FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT: introduction to the fundamental theories of business organisation applied to disaster management. Topics include organisational design, organisational behavior, and socio-technical systems theory. LIFE COURSE MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT: notions of methodology and technical standards for the evaluation and management of the sustainable life cycle of processes and organisations, with a focus on emergency contexts

ETHICS, PERSONAL IDENTITY, PUBLIC SPEAKING, LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT: Texts provided by the professors. ORGANISATIONAL THEORIES FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT: Daft, R. L. (2020). Organization Theory & Design (13ª ed.). Cengage Learning. PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Archibald R.D. (2024), Project management, Franco Angeli.

The overall goal is to provide essential theoretical and practical skills for managing complex crises, by combining knowledge in organisational, ethical, and communication fields. In detail: ETHICS: to promote awareness of the use of expressions in the public sphere, recognise misinformation and understand the dynamics of communication in healthcare settings. PERSONAL IDENTITY: To improve the understanding of personality development, grasping its universal elements and cultural differences. PUBLIC SPEAKING: to provide skills for managing public interventions in crisis situations, enhancing clarity, persuasiveness and self-control in communication. ORGANISATIONAL THEORIES FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT: to convey knowledge and practical skills needed to analyse and interpret disaster management scenarios, enhancing critical thinking and problem-solving. PROJECT MANAGEMENT: to convey the knowledge and abilities required for the analysis and interpretation of complex disaster management scenarios, strengthening critical thinking and collaborative work. LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT: to acquire basic knowledge and understand the regulatory and methodological framework for assessing the sustainability of processes and organisations in emergency contexts.

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The course combines lectures, practical workshops, simulations, and case study discussions, for an interactive and practice-oriented approach.

Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning- disabilities Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the course’s teaching staff to define the examination modalities and teaching aspects. The teaching materials will be regularly uploaded on the DIR page of the course. Attendance is strongly recommended, especially for the practical parts.

ETHICS and PERSONAL IDENTITY written exam structured as a multiple-choice quiz. The final grade is out of thirty, with a minimum score of 18/30 required to pass. ORGANISATIONAL THEORIES FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT: written test with a multiple-choice quiz. The final grade is out of thirty, and a minimum score of 18/30 is required to pass. PROJECT MANAGEMENT: written exam consisting of a multiple-choice quiz. The final grade is expressed in thirtieths, with a minimum score of 18/30 to pass the test. PUBLIC SPEAKING: a final practical test, i.e., a simulated oral presentation (3-5 minutes), and continuous assessment. The continuous assessment includes active participation, practical exercises, and peer-to-peer feedback. The evaluation criteria are clarity, structure, adaptation to context, emotional management, body language, and communicative impact. LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT: two-hour written test with closed-ended questions on the course's fundamentals. Each question has the same weight, and incorrect answers are not penalized. The assessment is graded out of thirty.

ETHICS: elements of pragmatics, the ethics of communication in healthcare settings, and cases of voluntary and involuntary misinformation in health crisis contexts. PERSONAL IDENTITY: the innate and social dimensions, of personal identity; the fragility of the sense of self. PUBLIC SPEAKING: introduction to public speaking (2h), speaking in an emergency (2h), structuring the message (2h), and a practical workshop (2h). PROJECT MANAGEMENT: an overview of project management, planning and control, the project team, the management of project portfolios. ORGANISATIONAL THEORIES FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT: lectures (2h), e-tivities (2h), and synchronous activities on case studies and simulations (4h). LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT: history and uses of Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) and Life Cycle Management (LCM), the ISO 14040 and ISO 14064 standards, the structure of LCA and CFO models, and the use of supporting software.

By the end of the course, students will be able to: -adapt the language to different types of audiences and manage emotions in high-pressure communication situations; - strengthen defences against misinformation. -understand the complexity of personal identity formation and the characteristics of identity stemming from different social structures; -analyse and interpret complex disaster management scenarios using organisational and project management tools and models; -conduct sustainability assessments of processes and organisations in emergency contexts;