About this course

Course at a glance

Learning hours
21.7
Modules
5
Lessons
12
Interactive labs
2
Module checks
4
Practicum
1

Most disasters reveal governance problems as much as technical ones: a warning that did not reach the right office, a building code that was not enforced, a dam release that was not shared with the country downstream, or a reconstruction plan that ignored the people it was meant to help.

Risk governance is about how societies decide which risks to address, who is responsible, which rules and incentives apply, and how decision makers are held to account. This course gives you frameworks and tools to analyse those questions, from the IRGC framework to the choice and enforcement of instruments, cooperation across levels and borders, accountability and evaluation. It also takes the Nexus lens: many of the risks that matter most cross the boundaries between institutions, and Nexus-Based Risk Management (NRM) is designed to govern those connections. You finish with a governance review of a risk in your own context.

How the course is built

  1. Module 1. Foundations of risk governanceWhat risk governance is, the IRGC framework, and how perception and evidence shape decisions.
    How decisions are framed
  2. Module 2. Institutions and instrumentsMandates and coordination, the choice of policy instruments, and enforcement that works.
    Who acts and with what tools
  3. Module 3. Levels, borders, accountability and evaluationGoverning across levels and borders, holding decision makers to account, and knowing whether policy works.
    Across scales, to account
  4. Module 4. Learning and the Nexus lensAdaptive governance, learning after disasters, and governing risks that cross sectors.
    Learning and connection
  5. Module 5. PracticumA governance review of a risk you know, reviewed against a six-criterion rubric.
    Your review

Your learning journey

  1. Foundations of risk governanceWhat risk governance is, how the IRGC framework structures it, and how perception and evidence shape decisions about risk.
  2. Institutions and instrumentsHow mandates and coordination are arranged, how governments choose tools, and how enforcement can be made to work.
  3. Levels, borders, accountability and evaluationHow risk is governed across levels of government and across borders, how decision makers are held to account, and how to judge whether policy works.
  4. Learning and the Nexus lensHow governance learns and adapts under uncertainty, and how risks that cross sectors are governed under Nexus-Based Risk Management (NRM).
  5. PracticumWrite a governance review of one risk in a place you know, using the frameworks and methods of the course, and have it reviewed against a six-criterion rubric.

Interactive labs in this course

  • Systems Find the most critical institution
  • Systems Strengthen a cross-border warning chain

Syllabus

Course code
RAN-307
Programme
Nexus stream · Governance
Level
Intermediate
Learning hours
21.7
Delivery
Self-paced
Language
English

Learning outcomes

  • LO1 Explain risk governance and the IRGC risk governance framework, including its phases, the simple, complex, uncertain and ambiguous categories of risk problems, and the role of risk perception and evidence.
  • LO2 Analyse the institutional arrangements for a risk by mapping mandates, coordination mechanisms and dependencies across sectors and levels, and find single points of failure.
  • LO3 Evaluate legal, regulatory, economic, informational and organisational policy instruments, including enforcement and compliance incentives, and select a mix suited to a given risk.
  • LO4 Analyse multi-level and transboundary governance arrangements using the ideas of subsidiarity, polycentricity, cost sharing and cooperation agreements.
  • LO5 Evaluate the accountability and inclusiveness of a risk governance arrangement, including transparency, participation and access to remedy.
  • LO6 Design an evaluation of a risk policy using a theory of change, evaluation criteria and suitable methods, and a plan for learning and adaptation.
  • LO7 Analyse how risks that cross sectors are governed under Nexus-Based Risk Management (NRM), identifying shared nodes, response risk and the flows between entity registers and a nexus layer.
Prerequisites and audience

Prerequisites

  • Familiarity with hazard, exposure and vulnerability, for example from a Risk Academy foundation course.
  • Some experience of how public institutions work in your country, or interest in learning it.

Who this course is for

  • Public officials in disaster risk management, civil protection, planning, health, environment and finance.
  • Staff of regulators, parliaments, audit institutions and ombudspersons.
  • Practitioners in international organisations, NGOs and community organisations who engage with policy.
  • Risk managers in companies and utilities who work with regulators.
Assessment (pass mark 70%)
Assessment components
ComponentTypeWeight
Module 1 checkquiz12%
Module 2 checkquiz12%
Module 3 checkquiz13%
Module 4 checkquiz13%
Governance reviewassignment50%
Systems and competencies

Systems in this course

  • NXS-CMD
  • NXS-DSS
  • NXS-NST
  • NXS-GRX
  • NXS-LAB

Competency alignment

  • Risk Academy GOV.1 Risk governance analysis
  • Risk Academy GOV.2 Policy instrument choice and evaluation
  • Risk Academy GOV.3 Governing interdependence and learning
Faculty
  • Risk Academy faculty, Course authors · Risk Academy, Nexus Consortium
Core references
  • IRGC (2005). Risk Governance: Towards an Integrative Approach. White Paper No. 1, authored by O. Renn with an annex by P. Graham. International Risk Governance Council, Geneva. open
  • IRGC (2017). Introduction to the IRGC Risk Governance Framework, revised version. EPFL International Risk Governance Center, Lausanne. open
  • Renn, O. (2008). Risk Governance: Coping with Uncertainty in a Complex World. Earthscan, London. library
  • UNDRR (2015). Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. Source open
  • OECD (2014). Recommendation of the Council on the Governance of Critical Risks. OECD, Paris. open
  • Hood, C. C. and Margetts, H. Z. (2007). The Tools of Government in the Digital Age. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. library
  • Ayres, I. and Braithwaite, J. (1992). Responsive Regulation: Transcending the Deregulation Debate. Oxford University Press, New York. library
  • Ostrom, E. (2010). Beyond markets and states: polycentric governance of complex economic systems. American Economic Review, 100(3), 641-672. library
  • Bovens, M. (2007). Analysing and assessing accountability: a conceptual framework. European Law Journal, 13(4), 447-468. library
  • Arnstein, S. R. (1969). A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), 216-224. library
  • OECD (2019). Better Criteria for Better Evaluation: Revised Evaluation Criteria Definitions and Principles for Use. OECD DAC Network on Development Evaluation, Paris. open
  • Pawson, R. and Tilley, N. (1997). Realistic Evaluation. Sage, London. library
  • Mayne, J. (2012). Contribution analysis: coming of age? Evaluation, 18(3), 270-280. library
  • ISO 31000:2018. Risk management - Guidelines. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva. restricted