Curriculum and Course Development Workshop for the Project – 'DISASTER PREPAREDNESS THROUGH COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE'

February 25-26, 2020: CEMCA is developing the disaster preparedness skill of communities living in the east coast of India through community of practice (COP). The project aims to create awareness on disaster management and disaster preparedness through COP. In this regard, a two-day Content Creation Workshop was jointly organized by CEMCA and Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India and held on 25-26 February 2020 at Andhra University. 

It was attended by 10 renowned subject experts from across India. The workshop was inaugurated by Prof. V. Krishna Mohan, Registrar, Andhra University. In his inaugural address, Prof. V. Krishna Mohan highlighted on the key components that should be considered while preparing the modules for disaster preparedness.

In the inaugural session, Ms. Shirley Priya Deepak, Programme Officer – Skills, CEMCA explained the purpose and objectives of the project and set the context of the workshop. She made a presentation on the project, "Disaster Preparedness through COP", and briefly outlined the Baseline Study in four community radio stations in session 2. 

Ms. Pinky Chandran, shared the findings of the Baseline Study. Dr. Keshav Mohan prompted the 12 modules that he felt would fit in as a reference module for Disaster preparedness. The Experts were reorganized into 3 working groups - 1 Pre Disaster Group, 1 During Disaster Group and 1 Post Disaster Group. They were tasked to discuss focus areas and to identify 4 modules. The 3 groups explored the focus areas and at the end of the day, presented their deliberations for fixing the topics. Dr. Keshav Mohan and Ms. Shirley Priya Deepak facilitated the discussions. 

On Day 2, Modules 1 to 12 were revisited and few modules, regrouped for better outputs. The general structure of the module was developed. Timelines, Data Sources, and other resources were discussed. Sub themes and timelines were fixed. 

The workshop which included presentations, interactive sessions, active group discussion and brain-storming sessions on the modules for disaster preparedness, concluded with the creation of a whatsapp group, for regular communications and follow-up.

The experts were invited for an interaction with Dr Prasad Reddy, the Hon’ble Vice Chancellor of Andhra University. The vice Chancellor offered his support for any onward actions in the project.