Ateneo - UPO

The module examines the design, implementation, coordination, and evaluation of policies in disaster and humanitarian-crisis settings.

The economic component introduces the tools required to understand how scarcity, opportunity cost, incentives, trade-offs, efficiency, equity, vulnerability, and institutional capacity shape decision-making in situations characterised by urgency, limited resources, and incomplete information. It examines the effects of disasters on households, firms, supply chains, public finance, development, poverty, and inequality, together with the main policies for prevention, preparedness, social protection, emergency response, and reconstruction.

The humanitarian-health component examines the international emergency-coordination system, the roles of the United Nations, OCHA, the World Health Organization, and the Global Health Cluster, as well as the main standards and operational tools used in humanitarian action.

Through data, cases, simulations, decision-making games, and guided discussions, students will apply theoretical concepts to concrete problems involving resource allocation, coordination, health response, population protection, recovery, and resilience-building.

Main texts and resources for the economic component

CORE Econ Team, The Economy 2.0: Economics for a Changing World, open-access textbook.

CORE Econ Team, Economy, Society, and Public Policy, open-access textbook.

World Bank and United Nations (2010), Natural Hazards, UnNatural Disasters: The Economics of Effective Prevention.

Hallegatte, S., Vogt-Schilb, A., Bangalore, M., and Rozenberg, J. (2017), Unbreakable: Building the Resilience of the Poor in the Face of Natural Disasters, World Bank.

Hallegatte, S., Rentschler, J., and Rozenberg, J. (2020), Adaptation Principles: A Guide for Designing Strategies for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience, World Bank.

UNDRR, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030.

Main texts and resources for the humanitarian-health component

Global Health Cluster, Health Cluster Guide: A Practical Handbook.

Sphere Association, The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response.

World Health Organization, High-Priority Health Services for Humanitarian Response – H3 Package.

Additional materials

Reports, guidelines, databases, operational tools, academic articles, cases, and multimedia materials provided by institutions including the World Bank, UNDRR, WHO, OCHA, the Global Health Cluster, IPCC, UNDP, CRED, and ICRC will be made available on the course platform.

The instructors will specify the compulsory readings and materials on the course platform.

The module aims to provide students with an integrated framework for understanding and addressing the economic, health, institutional, and operational consequences of disasters and humanitarian crises.

In particular, the module develops students’ ability to:

1. use economic reasoning to interpret decisions made under scarcity, urgency, risk, and incomplete information;

2. understand how development, poverty, inequality, institutions, exposure, and vulnerability shape disaster outcomes;

3. distinguish direct damage, indirect losses, and welfare effects on households, firms, and communities;

4. analyse the effects of disasters on supply chains, public finance, essential services, and health systems;

5. compare policies for prevention, preparedness, emergency response, social protection, insurance, reconstruction, and resilience-building;

6. understand the structure and operation of the main international humanitarian and health coordination mechanisms;

7. understand the roles of the United Nations, OCHA, the World Health Organization, the Global Health Cluster, and the main humanitarian standards;

8. apply economic, humanitarian, health, and ethical principles to concrete cases, identifying trade-offs, operational constraints, distributional effects, and implementation risks;

9. formulate policy responses consistent with the urgency of intervention, the protection of vulnerable populations, institutional capacity, and long-term resilience.

No specific prerequisites are required.

The economic concepts, indicators, institutional frameworks, and operational tools required for the module will be introduced progressively.

Basic familiarity with graphs, tables, quantitative data, and documents issued by international organisations may be helpful, but is not mandatory.

The module is taught in English.

The module is taught in English and delivered in blended mode through the integration of Didattica Erogativa and Didattica Interattiva.

Asynchronous learning

The online component includes short, progressive prerecorded video lectures, normally lasting approximately 15–20 minutes. The videos introduce the economic, institutional, health, and operational concepts required to analyse disasters and humanitarian crises.

Each unit is accompanied by self-assessment quizzes that allow students to progressively verify their understanding.

E-tivities

E-tivities include guided data exploration, use of international resources and operational tools, online training courses, video-based analysis, and short case-based exercises. Activities may be completed individually or in small groups through structured templates and tasks, without requiring extended written assignments.

Virtual classrooms

Synchronous online sessions are devoted to reviewing the main concepts, discussing scenarios, answering questions, analysing trade-offs, and comparing possible policy alternatives.

In-person activities

In-person sessions emphasise active learning through:

- discussion of real-world cases;
- simulations and role plays;
- crisis-management games;
- tabletop exercises;
- scarce-resource allocation activities;
- analysis of humanitarian dilemmas;
- collaborative work;
- design and comparison of possible intervention packages;
- guided debriefing.

Applied activities connect the online materials with concrete decision-making problems and consolidate students’ ability to move from problem diagnosis to policy choice.

Regular participation in online activities, virtual classrooms, and in-person sessions is strongly recommended.

Teaching materials, video lectures, quizzes, schedules, e-tivity instructions, announcements, and operational information will be published on the course platform.

The learning activities are designed progressively. Students are therefore advised to complete the video lectures and related quizzes before participating in the virtual classrooms and residential phase.

Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (DSA), or Special Educational Needs (BES) may request dedicated services and support tools by contacting the University’s Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti and consulting the relevant page of the University website: https://uniupo.it/it/servizi/servizi-studenti-disabili-e-dsa

After contacting the relevant University staff, students with disabilities, DSA, or BES may contact the course instructor to discuss the application of the approved measures and the arrangements for the examination in relation to teaching and assessment activities.

To complete the module and obtain the corresponding Open Badge, students are required to pass an online assessment test administered according to the programme’s academic calendar.

The test consists of multiple-choice and/or structured questions and verifies the acquisition of the core concepts covered in the module.

In particular, the assessment verifies students’ ability to:

- understand and correctly interpret the main economic, humanitarian, health, and institutional concepts;
- recognise the economic and social consequences of disasters and humanitarian crises;
- identify relevant scarcity, incentives, vulnerability, institutional constraints, and policy trade-offs;
- apply theoretical knowledge to structured questions and scenarios;
- distinguish between different policy instruments and intervention alternatives;
- recognise the role of context, institutions, available evidence, and operational constraints;
- understand the main humanitarian and health coordination mechanisms.

The test is passed upon reaching the threshold established for the module, in accordance with the cluster assessment regulations.

Passing the test is a prerequisite for accessing the cluster examination and results in the award of the corresponding Open Badge.

Self-assessment quizzes, e-tivities, discussions, simulations, and in-person activities are primarily formative and preparatory. Participation and activity completion are monitored to provide feedback and support learning, but no individual essay or project is required for the award of the Open Badge.

1. Foundations of economic reasoning in emergencies

- why economics matters in disasters and humanitarian crises;
- scarcity, resource allocation, and prioritisation;
- opportunity cost, incentives, and behavioural responses;
- trade-offs between speed, efficiency, equity, and feasibility;
- positive and normative economics;
- models, data, correlation, causality, and counterfactual reasoning.

2. Development, vulnerability, and disaster risk

- real GDP, GDP per capita, and the limitations of aggregate indicators;
- growth, productivity, and development differences;
- poverty, inequality, and human development;
- institutions, public goods, and market failures;
- risk, hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience;
- economic and institutional reasons why similar events generate different consequences.

3. Economic effects of disasters

- direct damage, indirect losses, and welfare effects;
- effects on household consumption, income, and living conditions;
- coping strategies and impoverishment risks;
- poverty traps and human-capital effects;
- disruption of firms;
- effects on supply chains and local economic systems;
- macroeconomic transmission channels;
- fiscal space, public finance, and budget constraints.

4. Economic instruments for prevention and response

- prevention and preparedness;
- adaptive social protection;
- insurance and risk financing;
- essential cost-benefit logic;
- comparison between emergency interventions and preventive investment;
- selection of instruments according to the actors involved, risks, and time horizon.

5. Humanitarian crises, conflict, and forced displacement

- conflict and displacement as economic shocks;
- effects on displaced populations, host communities, local markets, and public services;
- aid design and possible incentive effects;
- food insecurity and health crises;
- social protection and support for vulnerable populations.

6. Recovery, reconstruction, and resilience

- transition from emergency response to recovery;
- reconstruction and the building-back-better principle;
- policies to strengthen resilience and institutional capacity;
- integration of urgency, sustainability, and long-term consequences;
- design of a coherent policy mix.

7. Coordination of humanitarian assistance

- evolution of the international coordination system;
- roles of the United Nations, OCHA, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee;
- Cluster System and Global Health Cluster;
- operational coordination mechanisms;
- mobile clinics and quality of care;
- civil-military coordination;
- use of risk matrices and other decision-making tools.

8. The functioning of WHO and the United Nations system

- structure, mandate, and operational role of the World Health Organization;
- WHO Health Emergencies Programme;
- epidemic response;
- essential health service packages, including the H3 Package;
- Sphere Handbook and Core Humanitarian Standard;
- minimum standards in humanitarian health response;
- humanitarian-development-peace nexus.

9. International frameworks and operational tools

- Sustainable Development Goals;
- Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction;
- International Health Regulations and preparedness-assessment tools;
- management of non-communicable diseases in emergencies;
- cash and voucher assistance;
- implications of international decisions for resource allocation and field-level implementation.

10. Dilemmas and applications in humanitarian health

- humanitarian principles;
- ethical and operational dilemmas;
- staff security and attacks on health care;
- Geneva Conventions and protection frameworks;
- Do No Harm approach;
- the relationship between health, conflict, and peace-building;
- tensions between health protection, economic interests, and political feasibility.

11. Applications, simulations, and synthesis

- climate-crisis management game;
- allocation of scarce resources under time pressure;
- analysis of winners, losers, and unintended effects;
- tabletop exercise based on an extreme event;
- definition of the problem, relevant actors, and constraints;
- design of a policy package;
- assessment of feasibility, equity, incentives, financing, and institutional capacity;
- monitoring, revision, and adaptation of decisions.

By the end of the module, students will have achieved the following learning outcomes.

Knowledge and understanding

Students will be able to:

- explain the role of scarcity, opportunity cost, incentives, efficiency, and equity in disaster-related decisions;
- describe the relationships between development, vulnerability, risk, and resilience;
- distinguish direct damage, indirect losses, and welfare effects;
- understand the effects of disasters on households, firms, supply chains, and public finance;
- describe the main instruments for prevention, response, social protection, and reconstruction;
- understand the structure of the international humanitarian and health coordination system;
- understand the roles of WHO, OCHA, the Global Health Cluster, and the main humanitarian standards.

Applying knowledge and understanding

Students will be able to:

- use data and indicators to interpret the risk and vulnerability profile of a territory;
- apply economic concepts to disaster and humanitarian-crisis scenarios;
- identify relevant actors, available resources, constraints, and information gaps;
- compare possible intervention instruments;
- anticipate behavioural responses, distributional effects, and implementation risks;
- apply humanitarian frameworks and principles to operational and health dilemmas;
- contribute to the design of a coherent response and recovery package.

Making judgements

Students will be able to:

- recognise trade-offs between speed, efficiency, equity, security, and sustainability;
- critically assess the quality and limitations of available evidence;
- distinguish positive analysis from normative judgement;
- consider both intended and unintended consequences of policies;
- assess whether proposals are compatible with institutional and operational capacity.

Communication skills

Students will be able to:

- clearly present a policy problem;
- use economic, humanitarian, and health concepts appropriately;
- participate in interdisciplinary discussions and simulations;
- justify their decisions and compare them with alternative options;
- communicate concise and structured recommendations.

Learning skills

Students will be able to:

- independently use textbooks, reports, databases, and international guidelines;
- update their knowledge of disaster and humanitarian-crisis policies;
- transfer the analytical method acquired to different crises, territories, and institutional settings.