Master of Disaster Management

Professor Global Health Section, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen

My research focuses on mental health and psychosocial support interventions for people who have experienced adversity.

I am particularly interested in integrated (multi-sectoral) interventions that combine activities to address the social determinants of mental health (e.g., gender-based violence, poverty) and psychological interventions.

I am a Professor in Global Mental Health at the Section for Global Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Extraordinary Professor in Global Mental Health and Social Justice at the Athena Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Arq International, the Netherlands; Adjunct Professor at the Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA; and Senior Technial Advisor with the non-governmental organization HealthRight International.

I am interested in bringing research into practice, and practice into research.

Maansi Parpiani is a postdoctoral researcher at the Global Health Section and Copenhagen Centre for Disaster Studies, University of Copenhagen.

She is a researcher of urban studies, focused on themes of migration, employment and environmental risk in South Asia. Through qualitative methodologies and ethnography, Maansi’s research examine how migrant and working-class communities in Indian cities navigate the multiple crises of agrarian distress, climate change and precarious employment in the 21st century.

Her research work is interdisciplinary and has been published in a range of journals and anthologies across anthropology, urban studies and South Asian studies.

Her teaching and supervision expertise includes qualitative research methods, urban health, labor migration and environmental risk.

My focus area is cholera, water, sanitation, hygiene, and the transmission of diarrheal diseases. Currently, most of my work is related to Bangladesh, but many of the theories depart from our investigations of the 1853 cholera outbreak in Copenhagen.

I am currently heading the disasters and environmental hygiene research group at the section of Global health in the Department of Public health.

I have previously linked my environmental health profile with my interest in disasters through my position as Director of the Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research, COPE, and Head of Studies for the Master of Disaster Management program (MDMa), which I co-created in 2008.

I graduated with a Ph.D. in Public Health from Aarhus University, Denmark in 2019. My Ph.D. study investigated the effectiveness of a female community health volunteer-delivered intervention in reducing blood glucose among adults with type 2 diabetes in Nepal.

I have previously worked for the World Health Organization, Family Planning Association of Nepal, and UNAIDS Collaborating Centre for socio-epidemiological HIV Research, Japan.
br> I am the recipient of the prestigious ‘Emerging Leaders Award’ awarded by the World Heart Federation in 2020 and the ‘Global Non-communicable Disease (NCD) Scholars Award’ awarded by Johns Hopkins University in 2018.

My research seeks to reduce the burden of NCDs in the community. My substantive research works have been on type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cervical cancer, and mental ill-health and common risk factors for these and other conditions, such as overweight/obesity, diet, physical inactivity, and alcohol and drug use.

My recent works have focused on developing, implementing, and evaluating community-based interventions to prevent and control NCDs in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). I am also involved in conceptualizing, designing, implementing, and analyzing rigorous community-based quantitative observational and experimental studies (randomized trials), systematic reviews, meta-analyses as well as qualitative studies focusing on NCDs.

I have extensively published my findings in several peer-reviewed journals, which are widely cited in the international research field.

Kristian Cedervall Lauta is Prorector for Education and Professor of disaster and climate law. His research regards disasters, cliamte and risk, and both how these phenomena are regulated, and how they, in turn, affect law.

Kristian works with:

• Disasters / Extreme events
• Disaster Law
• Cllimate Law
• Risk Regulation
• State of Exception / state of emergency
• Human Rights

In his latest book (in Danish only), Katastrofer - og hvad de kan lære os om os selv, Kristian provides unique insight into disasters, and how we as individuals and societies react.

The seminal piece, Disaster Law, investigates how a change in the way disasters are understood and managed affects fundamental notions of duty, responsibility and justice. Kristian's present research continues these efforts, by investigating a wide range of issues relating to law and disasters.

Dr. Roger Hearn has held senior leadership positions in the United Nations and a number of INGOs in a range of conflict affected countries including Syria, oPt, East Timor and Mozambique.

As Regional Director for the Middle East and Eurasia with Save the Children International, Dr. Hearn oversaw humanitarian operations in 19 countries, including a half billion dollar Syria Regional Response. Dr. Hearn was also Country Director for UNRWA Syria, the largest humanitarian agency operating in the country before and during the early stages of the conflict.

He has previously worked as Regional Director for CARE International and a Senior Researcher with WHO.

Dr. Hearn has an interest in peacekeeping having worked for UNTAET in East Timor and from his Doctorate research on peacekeeping in Southern Africa.

Dr. Hearn is currently consulting and lecturing in humanitarian management in Copenhagen.

Tania Dræbel has seventeen years of experience in research and teaching in Health for Refugees and Internally Displaced, sociology, qualitative research methodology, medical anthropology, Health Systems Research, International Health and Disaster Response. Design, implementation and management of research projects, qualitative studies, quantitative surveys, assessments and evaluations on access to health and organization of health care for refugees and internally displaced populations, on war-related health systems dynamics and post-conflict health sector reconstruction in Europe and countries of Sub-Saharan and West Africa.

PhD, University of Copenhagen, Institute of Public Health, successfully defended in October, 2004. Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies de Sciences Sociales: Cultures et Comportements Sociaux, Université René Descartes, Sorbonne, Paris V, 1994. Magistère de Sciences Sociales Appliquées aux Relations Interculturelles, Université René Descartes, Sorbonne, Paris V, 1994. Maîtrise de Sociologie, option Anthropologie Sociale et Ethnologie, Université René Descartes, Sorbonne, Paris V, 1993.

Ben is a humanitarian professional who has worked in field management and as a consultant in early recovery in a range of contexts, including the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Haiti earthquake and Pakistan floods of 2010.

He is a member of the UNDP roster of Early Recovery specialists, as well as humanitarian response rosters of DFID and IFRC. He designed and runs the IFRC Early Recovery Surge Team training, and has been very involved in the development of specialised training to support cash transfers in humanitarian contexts.

Camilla Winther Kragelund has worked with forced displacement for over 10 years, most of which has been as a practitioner in complex emergencies managing humanitarian responses to acute crisis and conflict.

She combines strong technical knowledge in child, refugee, and IDP protection with sound experience in translating humanitarian principles into tangible and effective actions towards assisting people displaced by conflict or natural disaster.

Her humanitarian work experience includes 8 eights in emergency response management, some of which has been with UNHCR in various protection and leadership capacities and some of which has been with Danish Refugee Council primarily in emergency response management and repeated deployments as emergency team leader.

Most recently, she has headed DRC's emergency team in South Sudan where she was responsible for DRC's emergency response to the influx of 120,000 refugees including establishing and managing refugee camps.

Key areas: Emergency response management and leadership; operational protection mainstreaming; designing and implementing rights-based programs; community development and participatory methods; camp management and protection of groups with specific needs

Camilla holds a B.Sc. in Economics, a Master of Arts International Relations and an Executive MBA.

Gert Lüdeking graduated with a Masters Degree in architecture and regional planning from the School of Architecture in Aarhus, Denmark.

He has 25 years working experience with two UN agencies, UN-Habitat and UN OCHA. After initially working with development of low income housing and community development in numerous Africa and Latin America countries, he became Director a.i. of UN-Habitat’s Humanitarian Affairs Office in Geneva, Switzerland, which is the global center for humanitarian coordination in disasters. While with UN-OCHA he was the lead of the Housing, Land and Property Sub-Cluster under the Global Protection Cluster.

During his work for UN-Habitat and UN OCHA in humanitarian response operations in disasters, he worked with interventions in major humanitarian flash-points, such as Darfur/South Sudan, the Balkans/Kosovo, Iraq/Kurdistan, South and Central America and the Great Lakes Region in East Africa. He was also representing UN-Habitat in the IASC global coordination of humanitarian challenges and operations.

The work in the mentioned territories included preparation of disaster response programmes after conflicts and natural disasters, deploying specialists, oversight of activities and coordination with national and local authorities as well as UN organizations and NGOs.

Apart from the extensive humanitarian response work, he has written and contributed to numerous UN publications. His research in many of the humanitarian crises situations was aimed at defining response solutions taking into account the rights of the displaced persons and meeting their immediate and longer term needs in recovery.

Together with IFRC and UNHCR, he developed the MDMa Shelter and Settlement Course in 2011 at the University of Copenhagen with inputs from Danish and Norwegian Red Cross, Danish Refugee Council, UN OCHA, UN-Habitat, the Geneva Shelter Center and a large network of independent shelter researchers, scholars and practitioners.

Teaching Subject

International Legal Framework for Refugee and IDP Protection

Positions

Kathrine Starup is specialised in protection, i.e. the protection of displaced and conflict-affected persons' rights, including mainstreaming protection in humanitarian programmes, development of analytical tools for "protection in practice", development of policies, standards and guidance on various protection issues, and training in protection, human rights and humanitarian principles. She has thorough experience within matters related to emergency response, return, reintegration, and protection programmes in Africa, Asia and the Western Balkan region.

She has years of experience with the following donors; the European Commission, ECHO, UNHCR and Danida (Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

Key qualifications

Training and capacity development, over-all strategic planning and development, programme management and monitoring; programme design and planning; fund raising; programme administration, including budget control and accounts, and personnel management and recruitment.

Thorough knowledge of programmes related to in particular protection activities, livelihoods activities, social community development projects, income generation, and capacity building.

Education

M.Sc. in International Development Studies and Public Administration, 1996

Luca Dell'Oro is Environmental Engineer graduated from The University of Bologna (Msc, 2002), he also obtained in 2004 a Professional Master Degree in Geo-Information Sciences and Earth Observation with specialization in Natural Hazard Studies (ITC, The Netherlands).

As Environmental Engineer and GIS/RS expert he gained International Experience working at the Spatial Science Innovation Unit (SSIU) of the University of Sydney, Australia. From 2005, he is working as Research Associate for UNOSAT (UNITAR Operational Satellite Applications Programme).

At UNOSAT, Mr. Dell'Oro is primary involved in training & capacity development related activities and GIS/RS data analysis and mapping for disaster prevention, emergency response and territorial planning."

He lectures on GIS Information in the MDMa Core Course 3 Disaster Response.

Niall Roche is a WASH/Environmental Health Specialist by profession who has worked in the area of emergency relief and development for 20 years. He has previously worked with NGOs such as Concern, MSF and Trócaire in a number of countries, namely Thailand, Cambodia, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia, Afghanistan and southern Sudan.

Niall spent six years as Concern’s Environmental Health Adviser supporting Water, Sanitation and Hygiene projects in the main plus as a member of the Rapid Deployment Unit helped to initiate emergency responses in a number of locations including Kosovo in 1999, Mozambique in 2000 and Pakistan following September 11th in 2001.

He currently works as an independent consultant primarily supporting NGOs, UN organisations and Donors in the area of evaluation. He is also engaged in the delivery of teaching and/or training in public health and wider humanitarian assistance for a range of institutions including Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Dtalk, University of Copenhagen, RCSI and the UN Training School Ireland at the Curragh. (KDSC Associate)

Climate and Anticipatory Action Lead at the Danish Red Cross. Responsible for driving the development of financing mechanisms for anticipatory action and innovative climate solutions. Expert in setting up triggers to address extreme weather events and effectively integrating climate-smart solutions into the overall programming. In charge of providing technical support to measure and document climate action project impact and refining climate change adaptation tools, training materials, and guidance documents. Responsible for Danish Red Cross climate learning initiatives, training sessions and webinars for staff, delegates, and volunteers across the project management cycle.

Loss and Damage agenda experiences through an assignment with the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre. Responsible for developing a Loss and Damage guideline aimed at governmental practitioners and supporting the creation of tools to assess, manage, and report on current and future losses and damages.

Catalina Jaime is the Head of Climate and Conflict at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, lead on Anticipatory Action in Conflcit at the Anticipation Hub and trustee at Map Action.

Catalina has 20 years’ experience in humanitarian action, with a focus on climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction in humanitarian settings. She is a contributing author to the IPCC’s sixth assessment report (Chapter 17, on decision-making options for managing risk), and since 2021 has lead the partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross on the integration of climate risk for their operations worldwide.

She has contributed to the strategic development of anticipatory action in the International Federation of the Red Cross Red Crescent Societies, the creation of the Anticipation Hub and was Knowledge Manager of the UK-funded Science for Humanitarian Emergencies and Resilience programme, which closed recently.

Catalina’s background is in industrial engineering. She holds a master’s degree in humanitarian action, specializing in conflict, disasters and peacebuilding, from Deusto and Uppsala Universities.

She is currently doing a PhD at the University of Twente on aspects of early warning and early action in situations of conflict and is a guest lecturer at a number of universities.

We are extremely proud of our disaster management alumni - Rikke Dalsted who was awarded The Florence Nightingale Medal. The Florence Nightingale Medal is awarded to individuals who have shown exceptional courage and devotion to victims of armed conflict or disaster, and/or a pioneering spirit in the areas such as public health.

Here is a note from Rikke Dalsted on the medal:

Professionally, I am a certified nurse, sociologist, hold a Ph.D. in Public Health, and a Master of Disaster Management. I have worked internationally in several different contexts with local NGOs and organizations such as MSF, ICRC and IFRC in countries as Nepal, South Sudan, Libya, USA, Sierra Leone, and Kenya.

I am very honoured and to be honest a little surprised to be awarded a medal for what I think is one of the most fundamental things to work for. Throughout my life, I have been driven by a curiosity towards the importance of health in different cultures and situations, and how it is possible to provide access to healthcare for the most vulnerable in armed conflicts, in natural disaster and for those forced to migrate. Today many people do not have access to health care, and I hope to make a difference by giving my time and skills as well as I can. What I do in my current position with the Danish Red Cross (DRC), as head of the Red Cross Health Clinics for Undocumented Migrants, is in many ways the same as when I was working with the ICRC establishing clinics in South-Sudan on both sides of the armed conflict. Here I just take the Metro rather than a helicopter. It is about providing health for those, who cannot find it elsewhere, and securing a safe space for all to get treatment.

My diverse educational background and national as well as international experience is a valuable tool, when doing this sometimes-tedious work for the most vulnerable. One day I have figured out how to fix the broken water pump of a dentist’s chair, the next I have cake with the local police authorities or discuss social media policy with DRCs communication department while scheduling rosters for 300 volunteers.

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This interview was conducted in June 2023. Rikke Dalsted was a student at the Master of Disaster Management in 2019.

A tool in social change

Michele Dimarco has a background in architecture and used to study and work in low and middle-income countries in the Middle East and South America. While working with social change and development, he discovered that disaster management could be a smart move for his career.

“When I was studying in Chile, I learn how extremely important mitigation plans are in tsunamis and earthquakes. This ended up shaping my academic career. Considering these factors while working with buildings affected the way I was thinking and designing. All I felt I was missing was a more managerial perspective,” says Michele.

This led him to the Master of Disaster Management (MDMa), from which he graduated in 2017. Today he is managing director in his company Emergency Architecture and Human Rights and is also the WHO Helpdesk coordinator for the COVID-10 response within the logistics department at World Health Organization HQ level.

“It was always my interest to see how architecture can be used as a tool in social change, but also how we can use preparedness plans and mitigation plans to reduce the risk of disaster. So of course, this master was perfect for me because it allowed me to apply some of my existing academic knowledge, but also experience a field completely different from my own,” he says.

Joining the conversation

The Master of Disaster Management programme has not only given Michele great tools to use in his daily work, but also close connections with whom he is still in contact.

“Taking the Master of Disaster Management was really interesting for me. It was a dynamic group with many completely different backgrounds and different amounts of experience, so there was a lot of interesting group discussions and group work. The fact that we talked so much to each other, even outside of class, lead to some of us even writing scientific papers together and continuing working together to this day,” he says.

The master's programme welcomes people with all different kinds of academic backgrounds within the humanitarian field. Even though Michele had prior experience working with disaster management, there was one hurdle he felt he didn’t master until he found the MDMa programme.

“I always had trouble understanding the internal language they were using. If you’re outside the technical language, you’re outside the conversation. The MDMa programme really helped me understand the language used in the sector. This is something I use every single day in my work now,” says Michele, before concluding:

“I would of course recommend the programme to anyone who might be interested in working within the field of disaster management and humanitarian action.”

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This interview was conducted in April 2020. Michele Di Marco was a student at the Master of Disaster Management in 2017.

Develop a strong foundation

Working as a migration delegate with the Danish Red Cross, Brian Brady uses the skills he has gained from the Master of Disaster Management (MDMa) every day. Brian started out as a volunteer with US Peace Corps specializing in community economic development in Guinea. Later on, he worked with the Danish Refugee Council in Guinea and Liberia. This work eventually lead him to embark on the MDMa, which he finished in 2018.

“I did not have a strong theoretical foundation in the humanitarian realm or disaster management. I had a very practical hands-on experience and thought, ‘Why not go back to my master’s and develop a strong foundation in these areas?’ Field work has always been an interest of mine, which I think is important. This is not the type of job you can do without a strong interest,” says Brian.

Having had a lot of hands-on experience in the field, the MDMa programme turned out to be a great fit for Brian, who thrives in practical surroundings.

“Most of the professors and speakers were or had actively worked in the field, so it was not just theory. The programme was a lot of real life examples and case studies, but at the same time, it had enough theory to give me the academic perspective that I wanted,” he says.

Gaining an academic perspective

Being able to see emergency-situations through an analytical lens is something that Brian learn from the MDMa. A skill, which is needed in a field where the urgency of a disaster might sometimes overshadow the idea of looking in the history books.

“There is sometimes a tendency in the humanitarian sector to think of each crisis as completely new and novel. This master’s gave me the skills to say, ‘What other situations can we look back and learn from, for what is happening right now?’ I gained skills for looking at such situations with an academic perspective that I had not had before, and this is definitely an advantage for me in my current position as well,” Brian says.

The analytical approach to an otherwise very practical field proved very useful to Brian, who uses his skills to work with migration with colleagues from all over the world.

“ I am currently working with migration in the West Africa region, and the analytical skills I have gained from this master’s programme contributes to that. I developed my ability to think critically and conduct research, which are very useful in my work,” he says.

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This interview was conducted in April 2020. Brian Brady was a student at the Master of Disaster Management in 2018.

Expanding knowledge and capabilities

While working in The National Civil Protection Authority of Macedonia, Vlakto Jovanovski discovered his interest in disaster management. He always felt a strong need to learn, explore and expand. So, when he got the opportunity to join the Master of Disaster Management (MDMa) programme at the University of Copenhagen, he grabbed it.

“The education system in Macedonia is very different from the one in Denmark. I had been hearing about the Danish education system from other people, but now I have experienced the whole package myself. The programme allowed me to expand my knowledge and gain self-confidence in my capabilities and spend one year with an incredible group of people with whom I am still in contact. I can freely say that it is one of the most rewarding experiences in my life so far,” he says.

The learning environment of UCPH was very motivating to Vlatko. It was a great opportunity for him to not only learn, but also to expand his network of colleagues and friends.

Vlatko graduated from the MDMa programme in 2012, and today he is the Head of Secretariat at Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative for Southern Eastern Europe. The skills he acquired from the programme, and the group work in particular, are skills that he still uses in his job every day.

“I gained so much from the group work. My current job is very much related to coordination, communication and diplomacy. The fact that we spent most of our time at UCPH working in groups helped me to learn how to be patient, how to listen, how to respect other people's opinion and most important to learn about different decision making styles of the people in the group,” he says.

An excellent investment in yourself

In the MDMa programme, students attend lectures with professionals within the field of disaster management; they work in groups and get a chance to test their knowledge through case studies and field work. This wide learning environment has certainly stuck with Vlatko through the years.

“The programme covered all key elements in disaster risk management and exposed me to new concepts like systems thinking and complexity. At the same time, we worked with the multidisciplinary approach in disaster management, covering topics like law, history and culture. The chance to listen to people from the field was very rewarding. And the field course in Bangladesh is something that I will always remember,” he says.

To the question if Vlatko would recommend the programme to others interested in working with disaster management, the verdict is clear:

“I will and have been recommending this programme ever since I graduated. The programme is an excellent investment in yourself and your personal development as someone dedicated to the cause of disaster risk management,” he says.

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This interview was conducted in April 2020. Vlatko Jovanovski was a student at the Master of Disaster Management in 2012.

Introduction

Cornelia, a Geo-Information-Systems (GIS) specialist at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, shares how the MDMa programme ultimately facilitated a career change, enabling her to transition from a national to a global focus.

The master’s programme also offered Cornelia interesting courses and lectures, equipping her with new tools and approaches while refining and adapting her existing competencies to align with the international scope to work in disaster and conflict settings around the world.

Transitioning from national to global focus

I hold a degree in landscape planning and landscape architecture from the University of Vienna, which provided experience working with natural hazards in the Austrian Alps. During this period, my interest in the humanitarian sector at an international level grew. I felt a strong desire to shift from disaster management in developed countries to a more global focus.

Understanding the global networks and organisations

Having worked in national disaster and risk management I found the courses on the broader humanitarian sector and response systems to be very fascinating. Studying global networks and major humanitarian organisations has significantly broadened my understanding of how they function, operate, who they aim to assist, and the motives behind their operations. I have gained valuable insight into their roles and the diverse components involved in their work.

Applying my existing skills in a global context

GIS is like a language, and I had mastered the basics. Now, the MDMa programme has expanded my vocabulary by providing me with new tools and approaches aligned with the specific direction I wanted to pursue, focusing on the application of GIS in disaster settings. It has also enabled me to refine and adapt the skills I already possessed for the field of international disaster management.

Master’s thesis leading to a job offer

The Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre hosted my master’s thesis, and they found the assessment and model I developed through my thesis very useful for real-world application. As a result, they asked me to further work on the method and replicate it other context and case studies, and I have been working with the Climate Centre ever since. This opportunity not only gave me my first international connection but also served as a crucial stepping stone into the niche I desired to work in. The MDMa programme facilitated my transition from national disaster work in Austria to work on projects in disaster and conflict settings all around the world.

Different approaches leading to new skills

What I really appreciated about the programme was its diversity. Participants came from diverse backgrounds, each bringing unique skills and perspectives influenced by their professions and experiences. Collaborating on common questions and projects with such a varied group of people was very enriching and heightened my awareness and understanding of the various professions and individuals involved in disaster management.

One program, different paths

I am still in touch with many of my fellow students. It is fascinating to follow their journeys and see where they have ended up. Despite all MDMa graduates completing the same program, we each pursued different paths, showcasing the flexibility and breadth of the master's structure and scope. The programme provides the tools, but it is up to you to actively use them and steer them in the direction you desire.

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This interview was conducted in July 2024. Cornelia Scholz was a student at the Master of Disaster Management in 2021.