Ateneo - UPO

ETHICS
In this part of the course an overview of the mechanisms of social communication will be provided
together with the fundamental concepts of so-called communication ethics, with particular emphasis on
the ethical aspects of communication within health and social care institutions and in crisis situations,
with a specific focus on scientific misinformation and its effects.

PERSONAL IDENTITY
This course explores the psychological, cognitive, and neurobiological dynamics affecting victims and managers in
disaster and crisis scenarios. Ranging from personal identity, extended mind theory, and communication biases, it provides operational tools to de-escalate stress, maintain leadership, and rebuild agency within affected communities.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
This module presents project management, with a particular focus on project planning and control. The definition, objectives, phases and main methodologies of project management are presented. Then project definition, distinctive elements and life cycle are discussed.
The following methodologies of project planning are presented: Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), GANNT chart, and Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). Finally,
project financial control is discussed, with a focus on project costs and project income statement.

ORGANISATIONAL THEORIES FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT
The course introduces participants to fundamental theories from the field of Organisational Studies that can provide
conceptual support and valuable insights for disaster management. The following topics will be covered:
Introduction to the concept of organisation Organisational design Organisational behaviour Socio-technical systems theory

LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT
The course covers methodological concepts and technical standards for assessing and managing the
sustainable life cycle of processes and organisations. Students learn the basics of calculation
programmes for measuring life cycle sustainability and related databases. The main certification
schemes will also be discussed.

PUBLIC SPEAKING
The course covers the fundamental techniques of public speaking, with a specific focus on communication in English in critical, emergency and healthcare contexts. The main contents include:
• Basic principles of effective public communication
• Structure and organisation of speech
• Emergency communication: clarity, credibility, control
• Stress management and body language techniques
• Communication with the media, institutions and the public during health crises
• Practical simulations of interventions in critical contexts

ETHICS
Materials made available during the course

PERSONAL IDENTITY
Texts provided by the professor during the course

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Suggested readings are as follows:
The Handbook of Project-Based Management - J.R. Turner, McGraw-Hill, NY.
Project Management, A Managerial Approach, – J.R. Meredith, S.J. Mantel, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc, NY.
Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling -
Harold Kerzner, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, NY.
Teaching materials comprise
Videos
Slides
Case studies and exercises
E-tivities, which comprise:
- a multiple-choice test for each of the six videos and for the lesson in presence
- exercises on measuring project costs
- exercises on project income statement

ORGANISATIONAL THEORIES FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Daft, R. L. (2020). Organization Theory & Design (13ª ed.). Cengage Learning.

LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT
Teaching material provided by the professor

PUBLIC SPEAKING
Gallo, C. (2014). Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds. St. Martin's Press.
Covello, V.T. (2003). Best Practices in Public Health Risk and Crisis Communication. Journal of Health Communication.
Materials provided by the lecturer:
Slides and technical data sheets; Videos of real examples (press conferences, crisis communications, TED Talks); Practical exercises

ETHICS
This part of the course aims to provide students with knowledge of the ethical dimension of
communication and the fundamental principles of communication ethics. It also seeks to develop
students' awareness of the ethical dilemmas that may arise in communication within health and social
care settings and in situations of crisis and emergency, while equipping them with the conceptual tools
needed to address scientific misinformation and science denialism.

PERSONAL IDENTITY
Basic level: Understand a complex phenomenon such as the sense of self, in both its innate and socially constructed dimensions.
Specifically:
Understand the impact of the loss of objects and places on survivors' identity structure.
Provide methodologies to transform care from passive to "co-produced".
Advanced level: Use the knowledge acquired to enhance the understanding of different cultures.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The course aims to provide participants with both theoretical knowledge, through lectures,
and practical skills, by means of case study discussions and experiential
Activities.
More in details, learning objectives are as follows:
1) Understand the characteristics of a project
2) Understand the phases of project management
3) Understand how projects utilize resources
4) Understand the challenges involved in tracking project costs and measuring project
income
5) Understand the characteristics and challenges of project planning and control

ORGANISATIONAL THEORIES FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT
The course aims to provide participants with both theoretical knowledge, through lectures, and practical
skills, by means of case study discussions and experiential activities.

LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT
The aim of the course is for students to acquire basic knowledge and understand the regulatory,
methodological and application framework for conducting sustainability assessments of processes and
organisations in emergency contexts. After an overview of the Life Cycle Thinking approach and its
application context, the LCA and CFO methodologies are introduced and described from a regulatory
perspective (ISO14040 and ISO 14064), as a reference for the design and optimisation of processes and
organisations for measuring the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

PUBLIC SPEAKING
The module aims to:
• Provide communication skills for managing public interventions in crisis and disaster situations
• Enhance clarity, persuasiveness and effectiveness in conveying complex messages
• Develop the ability to speak in public in front of different audiences (authorities, the general public, the media)
• Improve self-control and emotional management during presentations in stressful contexts

None

Teaching methods comprise both lessons and active learning, based mostly on case studies analysis and discussion.
The course is mainly conducted remotely and in English.
Pre-recorded video lessons lasting approximately 30 minutes each and study materials (slides) are available on the course page.
E-tivietis are available too.
During the lesson in-person, case studies will be analysed in groups and then discussed in a plenary lesson.

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 tutor in charge of the course to define the
examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

Attendance is strongly recommended, given the experiential nature of the module.

To complete the module and obtain the open badge, students must take a written exam that will consist of a Multiple Choice test of 8 questions for each of the 6 didactic units (8 x 6 = 48 questions).

ETHICS
Elements of pragmatics, the ethics of communication in healthcare settings, and cases of voluntary and
involuntary misinformation in health crisis contexts

PERSONAL IDENTITY
Personal Identity, Trauma, and Neurobiological Responses to Stress
Reception Bias and Crisis Communication
The Extended Mind and Rebuilding Agency
Personality Psychology: Big Five Model in Crisis Management
Group Social Dynamics: "Us vs Them" (Ingroup vs Outgroup)
Cognitive Biases and Heuristics in Crisis Contexts
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
1. Project management: an introduction
a. Relevance of project management, definition and objectives
b. Project definition and classification
c. Distinctive elements of a project
d. Typical actors of a project
e. Project life cycle and characteristics of each phase
f. Symptoms of project failure
g. The golden rules of project management

2. Project planning and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
a. Project planning: principles and support techniques
b. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
3. Project planning and GANTT Chart
a. How to build a GANNT chart
b. Benefits of a GANTT Chart
c. Weaknesses of a GANTT Chart

4. Project planning and Program Evaluation and Review Technique – PERT
a. Relevant phases of the PERT network
b. Elements of the PERT network
c. Calculation of the expected time per activity
d. Critical path
e. Limitations of PERT

5. Planning and controlling projects
a. Planning and management control system: mechanisms and process
b. Project planning and control: process and methods
c. Financial control of the project: phases
d. Economic estimates
e. Measurement of actual project economic results, comparison with budgeted goals and analysis of variances

6. Project costs
a. Project definition
b. Made-to-order production
c. Job order cost accounting system
d. Recording costs by order/project
e. Direct costs of the order/project
f. Indirect costs of the order/project

The lesson in-person will focus on the following topics:
a. The determinants of project profitability
b. The project income statement and the contribution margin

ORGANISATIONAL THEORIES FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT
The course has a total duration of 8 hours, structured to balance theoretical and practical activities. Specifically: 25% (2 hours): lectures introducing the main concepts of organisation, organisational design, organisational behaviour, and socio-technical systems theory. 25% (2 hours): individual and group e-tivities aimed at deepening the covered topics and fostering critical reflection. 50% (4 hours): synchronous activities devoted to case study discussions and practical simulations of disaster management scenarios.

LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT
History, origins and uses of Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) and Life Cycle Management (LCM). The ISO
14040 series of standards and the European Commission's ILCD guidelines for the Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) of processes. The ISO 14064 standard for measuring the Oranisational Carbon
Footprint (CFO). Structure of an LCA model and a CFO model. Supporting IT tools and databases.
Basic operational guide for creating a calculation model: Features and use of application software to
support LCA and CFO analysis.

PUBLIC SPEAKING
Module 1: Introduction to Public Speaking:
Fundamentals of public communication; principles of effective communication (2 hours)
Module 2: Speaking in emergencies:
Communicating under pressure; elements of risk communication; dealing with the media and citizens (2 hours)
Module 3: Structuring the message:
Speech construction; storytelling for crisis contexts; rhetorical elements (2 hours)
Module 4: Practical workshop: Simulations, role-playing, exercises with feedback from the teacher and peers (2 hours)

ETHICS
Upon completion of the course, students will be expected to understand the essential characteristics of
communication, with particular emphasis on its persuasive function, and to demonstrate the
communication skills required to manage public communication in crisis situations with clarity,
persuasiveness, and self-control.

PERSONAL IDENTITY
By the end of the module, students will be able to:
- understand the complexity of personal identity formation.
- understand the characteristics of identity that stem from different social structures, and to be able to predict elements of resistance and fragility within them.
- increase a sense of respect for the unique characteristics of people from different cultures.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
At the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Understand the aims and characteristics of project management
- Understand the distinctive features of projects
- Understand the roles, responsibilities and skills of the actors involved in project management
- Understand the objectives, elements and characteristics of the work breakdown structure (WBS)
- Understand the objectives, elements and characteristics of the Gantt
- Develop a Gantt chart
- Understand the aims, elements and characteristics of the PERT network
- Building a simple PERT Network
- Understand the characteristics and criticalities of project planning and control
- Understand the phases of the economic control of the project
- Understand the challenges in the recognition of costs per project
- Measuring project costs
- Understand the determinants of project profitability
- Understand and elaborate the income statement and calculate the contribution margin
- Understanding and applying break-even analysis

The corresponding skills are listed in the EU-ESCO classification (https://esco.ec.europa.eu/):
S 4.0. management skills
S 4.2.0. organizing, planning and scheduling work and activities

ORGANISATIONAL THEORIES FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Knowledge: gain an understanding of the main concepts and theories of organisational studies, with specific focus on organisational design, organisational behaviour, and socio-technical systems theory, applied to disaster management contexts. Skills: develop the ability to analyse and interpret complex disaster management scenarios using organisational tools and models; apply the discussed theories to evaluate effective organisational solutions; collaborate effectively in synchronous case discussions and simulations. Transversal
abilities: strengthen critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaborative management of complex situations; enhance
communication and teamwork skills in multicultural and multidisciplinary contexts.

LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT
The course aims to present the key concepts underlying the measurement of the life cycle sustainability
of processes and organisations, with a specific focus on operations and organisations involved in
emergency management. Students will therefore acquire sufficient knowledge of process and
organisational management issues to understand the basic elements of sustainability measurement and
results evaluation. Finally, students will acquire the basic skills to analyse, interpret and plan sustainable
process planning activities to be implemented in emergency situations.

PUBLIC SPEAKING
By the end of the module, students will be able to:
Plan and deliver an effective, clear and persuasive public speech (in English);
Adapt their message to different audiences and contexts, including in emergency situations;
Manage their emotions whilst speaking in public;
Demonstrate mastery of verbal and non-verbal language in highly stressful communication situations.