PERIPERI U TALKS

INTRODUCTION

For the Past 15 years, the PERIPERI U Partners have been involved with Disaster Risk Education, Research and Advocacy across Africa. A major focus of the partners is to reach out to communities and strategic stakeholders on the continent, sharing knowledge and raising awareness about disaster risk in Africa.

To reach new audiences and raise awareness of disaster risk issues, opportunities and initiatives, the PERIPERI U partners are launching a new online discussion series, to discuss disaster risk related topics and themes with a wider virtual community in Africa and beyond.

PERIPERI U Talks are a series of short sessions that allow persons/ representatives of institutions involved in disaster risk and associated fields (like climate change, water sustainability, development etc.) to talk about subjects related to education, science, technology, research, policy, management and other sectors related to disaster risk.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of these PERIPERI U Talks is to briefly introduce people, new and experienced persons alike, to a variety of disaster risk related topics and themes, providing opportunities to learn about the wider and broader subfields of disaster risk which they may not have been exposed to or aware of before.

The Talk sessions will also provide an opportunity for the guest speakers or “Talk Guests” to promote themselves, their institution, and their work, to inform attendees how and where they can learn more, as well as how to become more involved if they wish.

For more information, download the PERIPERI U Talks Brochure

THEMES of TALK SESSIONS

The themes for PERIPERI U Talks, though to be focused on Disaster Risk, are to be broad and all-encompassing, to provide opportunity to explore a diversity of issues related to Disaster Risk from a plethora of perspectives. Below lists examples of fields and subfields that could be taught and discussed in the sessions.

Management/governance/policy
Climate change
Water
Hazard Analysis
Response and recovery
Preparedness
Risk drivers
Community outreach
Advocacy and media
Critical infrastructure
Critical infrastructure
Economics of risk
Disaster Risk Financing
Social impact
Gender relations
GIS and spatial applications
Information management
Teaching and learning
Frameworks and policies
Theory, concepts and paradigms

When presenting in their session, Talk Guests should keep in consideration that we will be addressing a diverse audience. While the subject and themes of some sessions may focus upon a particular location or regional issue, the Talk Guests should endeavor to make the information and lessons of the session relevant and applicable to an African as well as global audience.

TARGET AUDIENCE for TALK SESSIONS

Disaster risk themes have an enormous audience potential on the continent and globe. From university level students and early career practitioners who wish to learn more and expand their knowledge about disaster risk, to established practitioners and experts who wish to sharpen their disaster risk knowledge to keep abreast of developments in the field.

Potential audience can also include government officials and NGO personnel who wish to better understand disaster risk related issues and how to address them, as well as concerned citizens and community members who seek to better understand disaster risk issues that may afflict them.

The PERIPERI U Talks platform seeks to provide opportunities to share knowledge and engage with all these potential groups. Those who are invited as Talk guest to speak on such issues should consider who they are aiming to address and engage with in their session, whether it is a general introduction for all on a particular topic, or whether they have a particular type of audience in mind.

While we foresee the majority of sessions to be hosted in English, PERIPERI Talks will seek to encourage and accommodate Talk sessions in other major African languages such as French, Portuguese, Arabic, Swahili, etc. to reach out to other audiences and provide teaching opportunities across the continent to a variety of linguistic groups.

STYLE of ENGAGEMENT

Talk Guests are encouraged to present their session in a way that best conveys the themes and message of their topic and engage with the audience. Talk Guests are encouraged to use various methods of presentation from PowerPoint, animations to demonstrations for their sessions. Keep in mind that sessions should be kept brief and to the point.

Below are a series of suggested styles of engagement to share knowledge between presenters and their audience;

Traditional Lecture: Provide a short lecture or ‘crash course’ to introduce audience to a particular theme or subject. E.g. Hazard identification and vulnerability analysis.
Reflection/specific case study: Talk Guests may reflect generally on a specific topic or research project. E.g. Review on study of impacts of Southern African drought.
Solution to a problem/breakthrough: Talk Guests may discuss about a response to a problem or a breakthrough with new information or innovations. E.g. Improved methods for early warning systems.
Big or small questions/proposal: Presenters present problems that is lacking in data and advocating for its further research. E.g. effectiveness of disaster response to a particular event.
Think again: Presenters could raise issues or subjects that may need to be revisited or readdressed, proposing different facts or possibly provide alternatives to certain theories. E.g. re-evaluating disaster risk policy and implementation.

The PERIPERI U Talks sessions are planned to take place once every one to two weeks, each session being between 40 – 60 minutes (proposed time: 12h00 – 13h00 Central African Time). Sessions will be hosted via Zoom and streamed live via various social media platforms to allow for audience engagement.

Recordings of the Talk Sessions will be posted on the PERIPERI U website https://www.riskreductionafrica.org/, Online Resource Centre http://lib.riskreductionafrica.org/, and other social media and web platforms (with permission from the Talk Guest).

All video recordings will be made available to the Talk Guest for them to use as they wish (e.g. as teaching materials, etc.)

CONTACT US

For information about the PERIPERI U Talks, scheduled discussions, attendee registration or how you can participate as a Talk Guest, you can visit the PERIPERI U Website

http://www.riskreductionafrica.org/

Or contact the PERIPERI U TALKS Team who can assist you directly;

Alberto Francioli: albertofrancioli@sun.ac.za

Carinus de Kock: dekockc@sun.ac.za