Syllabus
The course deals with a variety of topics representing important challenges not only in the subject of engineering geology, but more broadly in geosciences and society.
We will introduce the concept of risk in a broad sense, seeking the active participation of students through brainstorming and roleplay to understand risk management issues in natural and anthropic hazards.
We will also deal with the concept of geoethics, stimulating a debate on the role of geoscientists in society, particularly in the current climate emergency.
Another grand challenge we will be dealing with is the energy crisis and, more broadly, the energy cycle, with lectures dedicated to renewable energy (e.g., design and environmental issues of offshore wind turbines), fossil fuels (oil & gas exploration, environmental issues of pipelines), nuclear (deep geological disposal of nuclear waste), geothermal energy, and underground CO2 storage.
Finally, the course will also focus on large-scale natural disasters: chains of geohazards, landslides, floods and tsunamis triggered by earthquakes, rainstorms, glacier and permafrost melting – we will discuss old and new challenges in their prediction and mitigation and the greatly disruptive role of climate change.
Annotation
The course is intended for locally enrolled students, incoming students through the Erasmus+ and similar programmes, and students benefiting from virtual mobility (such as within the 4EU+ programme).
The course is accessible online but attendance in person is preferred for local and incoming students.
The course includes live content (lectures, seminars) and study material for individual learning (multimedia material, online quizzes) which will be hosted on Google Classroom and YouTube.
The course deals with a variety of topics representing important challenges not only in the subject of engineering geology, but more broadly in geosciences and society, and thus can be relevant to a large number of students with diverse backgrounds.
Among the topics of the course, we will introduce the concept of risk in a broad sense, seeking the active participation of students through brainstorming and roleplay, to understand risk management issues in natural and anthropic hazards.
We will also deal with the concept of geoethics, stimulating a debate on the role of geoscientists in society, particularly in the current climate emergency. A representative of the International Association for the Promotion of Geoethics will join us in an online seminar to bring experiences from various countries.
Another grand challenge concerns the current energy crisis and, more broadly, the energy cycle, with lectures dedicated to renewable energy, fossil fuels, nuclear, geothermal energy, and underground CO2 storage.
The course will also focus on large-scale natural disasters: chains of geohazards, landslides, floods and tsunamis triggered by earthquakes, rainstorms, glacier and permafrost melting. We will discuss old and new challenges in their prediction and mitigation and the greatly disruptive role of climate change. External experts will join our talks to provide state-of-the-art overviews.