Designing a course on environmental risk awareness (ERA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) would require the concerted effort of local teachers, practitioners, researchers and other professionals involved in education and disaster management. Although this sounds like a lot of time-consuming and bureaucratic collaboration, it will also ensure a course for students that is well-rounded, relevant and useful. This will however, not always guarantee an output that is child-centered, i.e. preserves the child as the key actor in the course. For this, teachers will have to be extra creative and innovative in keeping the spotlight on the child’s best interest and wellbeing throughout the entire designing process of the course.

A well-designed educative course on ERA and DRR should ideally include:

1. Training on concepts and terminologies of ERA and DRR: It is important for children to be aware of what disasters are and how environmental risks can affect their lives. Children can only play a better role in understanding and promoting societal change if they are taught to develop a sustained interest in the subject. Children need to know why disaster management is so important and what specific role they can play to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.
2. Lectures by visiting professionals and academics: The quality of the environment (built and natural) affects children in different ways than it would affect an adult. This is because children are physically more vulnerable to illnesses and injuries and may not always have adequate understanding and knowledge about keeping themselves safe. Therefore, it is the duty of every adult, especially those knowledgeable and skilled in ERA and DRR to help students learn how to stay safe and happy. Teachers can invite professionals such as firefighters, policemen, doctors, climatologists, architects and others to speak to children about topics related to natural and manmade hazards.
3. Use and interpretation of maps and other visual tools to understand geographical aspects of disasters: There is little debate on the fact that visual tools such as maps and drawings help better understanding of geographical details of the local environment and a person’s surroundings. Teachers can request a group of children to draw an accurate outline while another group can fill in details of buildings and local landmarks. This map can then be used to teach the class about local risks and safety.
4. Lessons on identifying risks and mapping local hazards: Involving children in conducing assessments for identifying risks and hazards is a very empowering activity for students to realize their key role in ERA and DRR. Teachers should therefore be capable enough to inspire children to collect information about their surroundings, the risks it could face, and the vulnerabilities it has and also develop short reports and maps that highlight their findings.
5. Disaster simulations to promote knowledge and behavior change: Although these exercises are very helpful in increasing awareness, teachers should always keep in mind the age group of the students they are teaching. For younger children, the teacher could show visual images and pictures of natural and human-influenced hazards such as heavy rains, lightning, weak electricity poles etc and ask the children what they feel the attached risks are. Similarly, for older groups of students, the teachers could conduct exercises on dealing with evacuation, first-aid etc.
6. Discussion in the classroom: An important aspect of the formal course on ERA and DRR should be the space provided to students to discuss with their teachers and other elders on what they feel are important issues about keeping their lives safe and free from harm. Children should be encouraged to openly speak in the classroom or outside, give presentations and share ideas with teachers on how to raise more awareness on reducing risks.
7. Field visits to disaster-affected areas: Planning and fun-filled yet educational field trip can be a fantastic idea for children to see for themselves what they may have learnt in the classroom. Teachers could plan a trip to a local site where a disaster may have occurred in the past, or to a building that is earthquake resistant, or maybe even to an emergency ward where they are given lessons on first-aid.
8. Presentations on case studies of disaster management:  Learning about real-life incidents help explain a lot of details about DRR that normal lectures can overlook and skim through. Through visual presentation and in-depth discussions about a particular case, children can identify what procedures they would be required to follow in case they were in a similar emergency situation. Moreover, talking about case studies can also help children realize that DRR is a global effort and that there are resourceful practices being followed by people everywhere.
9. Lectures on local geography, weather patterns and early warning signs: There have been cases where children have saved lives by using their classroom lessons on geography to warn people of looming natural hazards. Take the case of Tilly Smith, a 10 year old British girl. She saved nearly a hundred foreign tourists at a beach in Thailand by raising the alarm minutes before the arrival of the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. She had learned about tsunamis in a geography lesson from her teacher and recognized the receding shoreline and frothing bubbles on the surface of the sea. She immediately alerted her parents, who warned others on the beach and the staff at the hotel where they were staying. The beach was evacuated before the tsunami reached shore, and was one of the few beaches on the island with no reported casualties (Tilly Smith, 2008).
10. Lessons on first-aid, putting out fire-fighting, evacuation, shelter-management and other emergency related activities: There are plenty of activities that are useful in preparing for disasters. Each of these plays a vital role in dealing with reducing the negative impact of disasters. For better management teachers can divide the classroom into groups, where each group is assigned to learn one specific activity and then teach others in the classroom and at home. For e.g. one specific group could be taught first-aid basics, one could be trained in evacuation and one could specialize in search and rescue strategies.
11. Instructions on making your own emergency kit at home: Children should be instructed and encouraged to make a list of what they think they would need if they faced an emergency situation. They should also be guided to prepare survival bags/kits that contain these items e.g. clean water, bandages, snacks, a bottle of antiseptic etc.
12. A specific emergency response plan: This plan should contain a set of procedures that specify what should be done in case of a disaster and who would be responsible for doing it. This way children will be sure of their and others responsibilities and will know who to approach for help in an emergency situation. This plan should be shared amongst all students, staff and other community members to ensure sharing of responsibilities.
13. Child-to-child approach: Utilizing children as agents and messengers of positive change, teachers can rely on the child-to-child approach to reach out to the students’ families and the larger community. The child-to-child approach also has the added benefit of strengthening children’s confidence, moral values and their intellectual development.

More information about these topics and others can be collected through various sources such as the internet, and documents prepared by child-centered and disaster management agencies such as Save the Children, UNICEF, Risk RED and more. Local information, which can be collected through community interviews and discussions with local professionals and elders, should also be a necessary component of designing an educative course on ERA and DRR.