The Community Participation in Emergency Response course will provide advanced knowledge of the technical requirements for the infrastructure needed in humanitarian emergencies.  Participants will be exposed to vital managerial decisions they must consider as they supervise teams of technical experts.  Participants will have a clear understanding of the implications of such open-ended commitments to a population and potential exit strategies.  Community-based project development models will be presented and discussed, to prepare humanitarian workers to support the transition from basic emergency relief/interventions, to community building and sustainable development. This integration of academia with the participants’ past field experience provides practical approaches on how to respond to emergency situations and their aftermath.

Upon participation in this course, it is expected to achieve the following learning objectives: (1) Understand the concept of emergency action – from preparedness to relief, (2) Develop critical thinking in using theoretical frameworks to analyze specific emergency situations, depending on the socioeconomic, political and cultural context, as well as the infrastructure/resources available, (3) Obtain a good understanding of community participation in terms of its meaning, its complexity, its challenges and dilemmas and its applicability in the field, and (4) Identify the multitude of responses to disasters – and the emotional implications for communities, as well as humanitarian aid workers; discuss the concepts of help and self-help, as they apply to humanitarian aid workers, and are essential in sustaining them in their work.