Illustrative: likelihood by impact as columns with score as height and colour, risks moving across it as controls act

Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Course catalogue · Hazards, Disasters and Resilience

Emergency Management and Recovery

Preparedness, emergency and crisis management

Preparedness, emergency and crisis management, taught twice over: as the working methods of the field and as its frontier since 2024, with labs on the Academy's tools, open data and the Nexus Standards.

Core course Frontier course

The discipline

01Core course · L2 Intermediate

Preparedness, emergency and crisis management: foundations and practice

This area covers how organisations and authorities prepare for, coordinate and lead the response to emergencies and crises: incident command, multi-agency coordination, contingency planning, exercises, crisis communication and the continuity of essential services.

Level
L2 Intermediate
Study time
about 24 hours (planning estimate)
Status
In authoring
Prerequisites
An L1 course in the area, or an entry review

Why now

Registers like this anchor scenario selection for contingency planning, exercises and business continuity in organisations operating in the UK. UK Cabinet Office, National Risk Register 2026, 14 July 2026

Learning outcomes

  1. Define incident command system and the other key terms of the discipline and use them correctly in a written case
  2. Explain the emergency management cycle and incident command and multi-agency coordination with a worked example and its source
  3. Apply the discipline's method to a documented case and explain each result with its source
  4. Analyse a named case against contingency planning, stating evidence, date and limits

Modules

  1. The emergency management cycle
    • The emergency management cycle
    • Incident command and multi-agency coordination
    • Contingency planning
  2. Exercises and after-action review
    • Exercises and after-action review
    • Crisis leadership and decision making
    • Crisis communication
  3. Continuity of essential services
    • Continuity of essential services
    • Evacuation and shelter
  4. Lab: the discipline's method
    • An order reaches a population; a share decides to leave; their departures spread over hours; the vehicles meet a road capacity; the later of the last departure and the last vehicle through the bottleneck is the clearance time, and the order has to be issued that many hours before the hazard arrives.
    • Work the method through a documented case and explain each result
    • Read the method's sources and stated values

Labs with Academy tools

Nexus Standards

Teaches

  • NRS-X2 Disaster risk reduction and crisis management
  • NRS-D9 Civil preparedness and national resilience
  • NRS-E1 Annual programme cycle, exercises and gates

Relies on

  • NS-1 The UNI and the artefact catalogue
  • NS-16 UNI application profile (how articles, documents, code, data, APIs and interfaces carry the UNI)
  • NRS-C1 Risk vocabulary and ontology
  • NRS-C2 Risk assessment method
  • NRS-C3 Hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity data
  • NRS-C4 Risk data model, identifiers and exchange
  • NRS-C5 Scenarios and stress testing
  • NRS-C7 Early warning, triggers and anticipatory action

Assessment

  • 40%Lab recordWork the discipline's method through a documented case and explain each result with its source and date
  • 40%Case memoApply the discipline's methods to a named place or organisation, stating evidence and limits
  • 20%Key terms checkShort answers on the key terms, marked against the definitions

Delivery

  • Self-paced online, with the labs in the browser
  • Cohort study over six to eight weeks, with a weekly lab review
  • Co-delivered with a partner institution, inside its own courses

Partner on this course

  • Co-teach a module and bring a current case from your work
  • Host a cohort for your learners, with your own schedule and review
  • Contribute a lab: a dataset your institution publishes openly, or a model
  • Review the course content and its references before it opens
  • Translate the course and adapt its cases to your region

How institutions and experts take part

In the Academy LMS

Course on the learning platform
Intermediate, 4 topics
Cohort group
A community group for each cohort of learners
Achievement
Recorded on completion of the assessed work

Open now in this discipline

References

  1. UK Cabinet Office, National Risk Register 2026, 14 July 2026
  2. Lindell and Perry, The Protective Action Decision Model: theoretical modifications and additional evidence, 2012
  3. Murray-Tuite and Wolshon, Evacuation transportation modelling: an overview of research, development, and practice, 2013
  4. Quarantelli, Disaster crisis management: a summary of research findings, 1988
02Live map

Hazards now in Türkiye

Flood water, active fires, heavy rain and smoke, beside where people live, over Türkiye.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 3

Hazards now

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

Hazards now, framed on Türkiye.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONET · U.S. Geological SurveySources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • GPM IMERG precipitation, NASA Precipitation Processing System; distributed by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS and VIIRS atmosphere products, NASA LANCE and LAADS DAAC; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). doi:10.7927/H49C6VHW. CC BY 4.0
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
  • Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
  • Live: U.S. Geological Survey Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
  • NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • River discharge forecast, 30 days with range (GloFAS via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Emergency Management Service information 2026; not a flood warning.
  • Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
  • Optional layers (20 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
  • Active fires and thermal anomalies: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
  • Precipitation rate, daily mean: GPM IMERG, NASA GES DISC · 12 Oct 2026
  • Aerosol optical depth, daily: VIIRS NOAA-20 Deep Blue AOD, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static

03How learning runs

How learning runs, as a process you can run

Select a scenario and press Play: course, pathway, practice, faculty, cells and record.

04What is changing

Frontier course · L3 advanced, programme courses and standards

Preparedness, emergency and crisis management: frontier methods

The methods, data, tools and studies that changed preparedness, emergency and crisis management between 2024 and 2026, taught by reproducing them on open data.

Level
L3 Advanced
Study time
about 28 hours (planning estimate)
Status
Planned
Prerequisites
Preparedness, emergency and crisis management: foundations and practice; Working knowledge of a scripting language (Python or R) for the labs

Why now

Registers like this anchor scenario selection for contingency planning, exercises and business continuity in organisations operating in the UK. UK Cabinet Office, National Risk Register 2026, 14 July 2026

Learning outcomes

  1. Explain what changed in preparedness, emergency and crisis management since 2024 and cite the studies, data or rules behind each change
  2. Reproduce UK National Risk Register 2026 updates national risk picture on open data and state the uncertainty of the result
  3. Evaluate a 2024 to 2026 study: its question, data, method, limits and what it changes for practice
  4. Design an analysis that combines a frontier method with the faculty's instruments, and justify each choice

Modules

  1. UK National Risk Register 2026 updates national risk picture
    • The UK Cabinet Office published the National Risk Register 2026, the public version of the National Security Risk Assessment, giving updated likelihood and impact assessments of the most serious risks facing the UK, with a guide for new readers.
    • Registers like this anchor scenario selection for contingency planning, exercises and business continuity in organisations operating in the UK.
    • UK Cabinet Office, 14 July 2026
  2. UK publishes a Government Resilience Action Plan
    • The UK Cabinet Office published a Resilience Action Plan setting out the government's strategic approach to strengthening national resilience, with later implementation reporting against objectives on assessing resilience, whole-of-society action and the resilience system.
    • National resilience plans set expectations for local responders, infrastructure operators and businesses on roles in preparedness and recovery.
    • UK Cabinet Office, 8 July 2025
  3. World Health Assembly adopts the WHO Pandemic Agreement
    • WHO member states adopted the Pandemic Agreement by consensus, setting principles for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, including equitable access to medical countermeasures; it opens for signature only after a pathogen access and benefit-sharing annex is adopted.
    • It reshapes international expectations for pandemic preparedness, though key mechanisms remain under negotiation and the agreement is not yet in force.
    • World Health Organization, 20 May 2025
  4. EU Preparedness Union Strategy sets 72-hour household self-sufficiency goal
    • The European Commission's Preparedness Union Strategy set out 30 key actions, including encouraging households to hold at least 72 hours of essential supplies, minimum preparedness standards for essential services, an EU Crisis Hub and civil-military exercises.
    • It moves EU preparedness toward an all-hazards, whole-of-society model that affects continuity planning for essential service operators and public authorities.
    • European Commission, 26 March 2025
  5. Reproduction lab
    • Extend the discipline's method with one frontier method and compare its results
    • State the uncertainty and the limits of the result
    • Peer review against a shared checklist
  6. Technology that helps and the risks it carries
    • Drones, Earth observation, machine learning forecasting and cell broadcast warnings.
    • Telecom and positioning failure, and AI-generated misinformation in a crisis.

Labs with Academy tools

Nexus Standards

Teaches

  • NRS-X2 Disaster risk reduction and crisis management
  • NRS-D9 Civil preparedness and national resilience
  • NRS-E1 Annual programme cycle, exercises and gates

Relies on

  • NS-1 The UNI and the artefact catalogue
  • NS-16 UNI application profile (how articles, documents, code, data, APIs and interfaces carry the UNI)
  • NRS-C1 Risk vocabulary and ontology
  • NRS-C2 Risk assessment method
  • NRS-C3 Hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity data
  • NRS-C4 Risk data model, identifiers and exchange
  • NRS-C5 Scenarios and stress testing
  • NRS-C7 Early warning, triggers and anticipatory action

Assessment

  • 50%Method reproductionReproduce one frontier method on open data and state the uncertainty of the result
  • 30%Study reviewA critical review of a 2024 to 2026 study: question, data, method, limits, what it changes
  • 20%Peer reviewReview two other learners' reproductions against a shared checklist

Delivery

  • Self-paced online, with the labs in the browser
  • Cohort study over six to eight weeks, with a weekly lab review
  • Co-delivered with a partner institution, inside its own courses

Partner on this course

  • Co-teach a module and bring a current case from your work
  • Host a cohort for your learners, with your own schedule and review
  • Contribute a lab: a dataset your institution publishes openly, or a model
  • Review the course content and its references before it opens
  • Translate the course and adapt its cases to your region

How institutions and experts take part

In the Academy LMS

Course on the learning platform
Expert, 6 topics
Cohort group
A community group for each cohort of learners
Achievement
Recorded on completion of the assessed work

Open now in this discipline

References

  1. UK Cabinet Office, National Risk Register 2026, 14 July 2026
  2. UK Cabinet Office, UK Government Resilience Action Plan, 8 July 2025
  3. World Health Organization, World Health Assembly adopts historic Pandemic Agreement to make the world more equitable and safer from future pandemics, 20 May 2025
  4. European Commission, EU Preparedness Union Strategy to prevent and react to emerging threats and crises, 26 March 2025
  5. Lindell and Perry, The Protective Action Decision Model: theoretical modifications and additional evidence, 2012
  6. Murray-Tuite and Wolshon, Evacuation transportation modelling: an overview of research, development, and practice, 2013
  7. Quarantelli, Disaster crisis management: a summary of research findings, 1988
05Take part

Take part in the work

Start from who you are.

06Questions

Questions, answers and key terms

Is the course free?
Yes. Every course and learning material of Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium, is free to study, self-paced or with a cohort. Ordinary participation has no fee; paid work, internships and fellowships are separate arrangements.
What does completing a course give me?
A completion record: the course, its version, the date and what was assessed, private by default and shared by you. It stacks into discipline, department and programme achievements. A record states what was studied and assessed and does not certify competence; it is not a licence, a professional title or an employment status.
Where do the data and the places come from?
Every faculty teaches on a twin of a real place built from open data; each layer carries its provider, licence and date, and every result on the Academy states its source. Maps and figures are indicators for teaching, never an assessment of a place.
How do I take part beyond the course?
Form a competence cell of three to seven people, study a shared pathway, take a supervised assignment in the National Working Groups, or bring a cohort from your institution. For organisations.

Key terms

Term

Incident command system

A standard structure for command, operations, planning, logistics and finance in an emergency response.

Term

Contingency plan

A plan prepared in advance for a specific scenario, setting out roles, resources and actions.

Term

Tabletop exercise

A discussion-based exercise in which participants work through a scenario to test plans and decisions.

Term

After-action review

A structured review of what was planned, what happened and what to change.

ReportsContribute

Contribute evidence from this page.

Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

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