CIVIL 729 : Humanitarian Engineering
Engineering
2024 Semester One (1243) (15 POINTS)
Course Prescription
Course Overview
As global conflict and extreme weather events increase the numbers of refugees and internally displaced people, the need for Humanitarian aid increases. This course offers students an introduction to the engineer's role in Humanitarian responses and provides training in New Zealand’s Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) in partnership with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
The course explores:
1) The definition of a Humanitarian emergency,
2) The history of Humanitarianism, associated laws and organisations,
3) The Humanitarian charter and guiding principles of humanitarianism,
4) Working internationally and cross-culturally,
5) The United Nations cluster system,
6) Minimum standards for Humanitarian response, and
7) Protection principles,
8) Achieve CIMS Level 3 certification,
9) Achieve CIMS Level 4 certification for a chosen function.
Capabilities Developed in this Course
| Capability 1: | People and Place |
| Capability 2: | Sustainability |
| Capability 6: | Communication |
| Capability 7: | Collaboration |
| Capability 8: | Ethics and Professionalism |
Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate their understanding of the grand humanitarian challenges facing marginalised communities today in New Zealand, the Pacific region and globally. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 6.1, 7.1 and 8.1)
- Design aid policies, protocols, procedures and practices for immediate and long-term humanitarian response services and operations. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 6.1, 7.1 and 8.1)
- Identify and compare different frameworks used in the humanitarian engineering field to assist with human crises, including shelter, standards, law, human rights, resilience, and engineering application. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 6.1, 7.1 and 8.1)
- Design engineering solutions for addressing shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene, poverty, climate change, sustainability challenges or a particular humanitarian issue. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 6.1, 7.1 and 8.1)
- Assess local capacity, training and education elements in implementing technology in a particular context. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 6.1, 7.1 and 8.1)
Assessments
| Assessment Type | Percentage | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| Quizzes | 40% | Individual Coursework |
| NEMA Unit standards | 20% | Individual Coursework |
| Final Exam | 40% | Individual Examination |
| 3 types | 100% |
| Assessment Type | Learning Outcome Addressed | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||||
| Quizzes | ||||||||||
| NEMA Unit standards | ||||||||||
| Final Exam | ||||||||||
Students must sit the exam to pass the course. Otherwise, a DNS (did not sit) result will be returned.
Workload Expectations
This course is a standard 15-point course, and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15-point course that they are enrolled in.
For this course, you can expect 2 hours of lectures, a 1-hour tutorial, and 7 hours of self-directed reading and study per week. The course also contains a 24-hour training component hosted by the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA.
Delivery Mode
Campus Experience
Attendance is Required at the scheduled NEAM training and tutorials.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities, including tutorials, will not be available as recordings.
The course will not include live online events.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable, excluding NEAM training which maybe scheduled outside of the standard weekly timetable.
Learning Resources
Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).
Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.
Health & Safety
Student Feedback
At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.
Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.
Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.
This is a new course, first delivered in 2023. Student feedback has been integrated into the course design for the 2024 iteration.
Academic Integrity
The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.
Class Representatives
Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.
Inclusive Learning
All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.
Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz
Special Circumstances
If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.
If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.
This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.
Learning Continuity
In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.
Student Charter and Responsibilities
The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.
Disclaimer
Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.
In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.