The manual “Security Risks and Disasters” is intended for undergraduate and master’s students at the Faculty of Security Studies at the University of Belgrade, the University of Criminalistics and Police Studies, and other faculties, to introduce them to the academic discipline in the field of disaster studies. The manual is based on years of experience that the author has in scientific research and teaching in this field. It is designed to facilitate the theoretical and practical exercises of students, aiming to ease the learning process in the field of security risks and disasters.

Given the multidisciplinary nature of the subject matter, the manual consists of numerous theoretical exercises that guide students toward the most important segments of the material, motivating them to engage actively in the exercises during the lessons. The manual covers the following topics: I – Methodological Foundations of Disaster Research; II – Phenomenology of Disasters and Hazards; III – Vulnerability to Disasters; IV – Disaster Resilience; V – Integrated Disaster Risk Management; VI – Disaster Risk Prevention and Mitigation; VII – Preparedness for Natural and Anthropogenic Disasters; VIII – Protection from Natural and Anthropogenic Disasters; IX – Recovery from Natural and Anthropogenic Disasters; X – Information Systems and Disaster Risk Management; XI – International Cooperation in Disaster Risk Reduction. Each section includes several exercises that begin with an introduction, followed by exercises and discussion questions. The manual draws on a large number of books authored by the writer, such as Disaster Risk Management, Collection of Regulations on Disaster Risk Management, Methodology of Disaster and Risk Research: Theories, Concepts, and Methods, Natural Disasters and Education, Police and Natural Disasters, Evacuation in Natural Disasters, Risk Perception in Emergencies, among others. The latest scientific literature in the field of disaster studies has also been included in the preparation of the manual.

Building on the theoretical elaborations of the methodological foundations of disaster research, the second section of the manual addresses the “Phenomenology of Disasters and Hazards”. In this section, students are introduced to theoretical content in the following areas: the concept, nature, and characteristics of hazards; the concept and characteristics of disasters; classification of hazards and disasters; lithospheric disasters; atmospheric disasters; biospheric disasters; disasters caused by technical and technological hazards; disasters caused by the use of weapons of mass destruction; disaster consequences; trends and spatio-temporal distribution of disasters; myths, ethics, models, and disasters. By completing exercises on the mentioned topics, students acquire basic knowledge that ensures: understanding of the conceptual definitions of hazards and disasters, classification of hazards and disasters, the conceptual definitions of earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods, torrents, tsunamis, storm-hail phenomena, droughts, extreme low and high temperatures, wildfires, epidemics, epizootics, and epiphytotics, various types of technical and technological hazards, various types of weapons of mass destruction, understanding different perspectives on disaster consequences, trends, and spatio-temporal distributions of disasters, disaster myths, ethical issues, and models; familiarity with the basic characteristics of hazards, various types of disasters, familiarity with different criteria for disaster classification, familiarity with the basic characteristics of earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods, torrents, tsunamis, storm-hail phenomena, droughts, extreme low and high temperatures, wildfires, epidemics, epizootics, and epiphytotics, different types of technical and technological hazards, different types of weapons of mass destruction, familiarity with health, physical, ecological, economic, and psychological consequences of disasters, familiarity with disasters through a historical perspective and the consequences that disaster myths can cause; describing the nature of hazards, characteristics of various natural and anthropogenic disasters, contrasting perspectives on disaster classification, different types of earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods, torrents, tsunamis, storm-hail phenomena, droughts, extreme low and high temperatures, wildfires, epidemics, epizootics, and epiphytotics, nuclear and radiological disasters, industrial and transportation disasters, disasters caused by hazardous materials, war destruction and fires, describing nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons, as well as high-explosive ordnance, describing the characteristics of various disaster consequences, describing disasters in the global and national geospace, and ethical principles in disaster risk management; recognizing the most significant natural and anthropogenic hazards, different dimensions of disasters, basic principles of disaster classification, causes of the mentioned disasters, recognizing the direct and indirect causes of hydrospheric, atmospheric, and biospheric disasters, different causes of disasters caused by technical and technological hazards and the misuse of weapons of mass destruction, different dimensions and possibilities for preventing and mitigating the consequences of disasters, the possibility of using different disaster databases and different models to interpret the complex nature of reality.

In light of the proactive actions of people to mitigate future disaster consequences, the fourth section deals with “Disaster Resilience” and includes exercises related to: the concept and characteristics of disaster resilience; dimensions of disaster resilience; analysis and measurement of resilience: global indicators; local indicators of disaster resilience; enhancement and components of disaster resilience. Through the exercises on these topics, students gain fundamental knowledge that ensures understanding of the basic characteristics of the definition of disaster resilience, various dimensions of disaster resilience, methods of analyzing and measuring resilience, local indicators of disaster resilience, and multiple ways to enhance disaster resilience; familiarity with: various definitions of disaster resilience, resilience as a biophysical and social attribute of a specific area, the evolution of the development of indicators for measuring disaster resilience, the basic characteristics of various indicators for measuring disaster resilience, as well as a wide range of activities to improve the capacity of local communities to mitigate disaster risks; describing the multidisciplinary framework of disaster resilience, the three-dimensional model of disaster resilience, specific indicators for measuring resilience for specific disasters, and communication strategies for integrated disaster risk mitigation; recognizing the multidisciplinary framework for understanding disaster resilience, the basic characteristics of the four-dimensional framework of resilience encompassing robustness, redundancy, resourcefulness, and rapidity, acquiring knowledge about the basic characteristics of resilience in citizens, households, and local communities, engineering, institutional, and ecological resilience, recognizing the features of various resilience indicators, the basic advantages and disadvantages of local indicators for measuring disaster resilience, and the basic characteristics of a conceptual review of communication strategies for improving disaster resilience.

In the fifth section of the manual, which covers “Integrated Disaster Risk Management”, exercises are provided on: the concept, types, and characteristics of disaster risks; the disaster risk management process; the conceptual framework and indicators of disaster risk management; disaster risk assessment models; risk maps and problems of risk analysis; the methodology of risk assessment; public information on disaster risks. Through the exercises on these topics, students acquire basic knowledge that ensures: understanding of the conceptual definition of disaster risks and the disaster risk management process, the conceptual framework of disaster risk management, disaster risk assessment models, the risk assessment methodology, and methods of public information on disaster risks; familiarity with: different types of disaster risks, key steps in the disaster risk management process, basic indicators of disaster risk management, key parameters for assessing risk assessment models, various disaster risk maps, and procedures for informing the public about disaster risks; describing the characteristics of disaster risks, the conceptual review of integrated disaster risk management, specific disaster risk management indicators, specific dynamic models, various risk assessment problems, methods of collecting and disseminating information on risks; recognizing different concepts of disaster management, the basic characteristics of different phases of disaster management, the advantages and disadvantages of disaster risk management indicators, various conceptual frameworks for disaster risk reduction, disaster risk assessment methods, and the functioning of disaster risk information in practice.

Recognizing the significance of proactive measures to prevent or mitigate the consequences of disasters, the sixth chapter focuses on “Disaster Risk Prevention and Mitigation” and covers the following teaching units: The concept of disaster risk mitigation; Strategies and measures for disaster risk mitigation; Functions of disaster risk mitigation; Mitigation of risks caused by natural hazards; Mitigation of risks caused by technical and technological hazards; Social networks and disaster risk reduction. Through the exercises on these topics, students acquire fundamental knowledge that ensures: understanding of the key goals of disaster risk mitigation, short-term and long-term measures for disaster risk mitigation, the functions of disaster risk mitigation, possibilities for mitigating the risks of lithospheric disasters, methods of mitigating the risks of technical and technological disasters, ways of using social networks in disaster management processes; familiarity with: the basic characteristics of risk mitigation, basic strategies for risk mitigation, methods of reducing the likelihood of disasters, characteristics of specific risk mitigation measures for disasters, specific measures for mitigating the risks of technical and technological disasters, the basic characteristics of using social networks in disaster management processes; describing specific stages of disaster emergence and development, general structural and non-structural measures for disaster risk mitigation, methods of reducing disaster consequences, methods of mitigating hydrospheric disaster risks, various risk mitigation measures, possibilities for using social networks to mitigate disaster risks; recognizing specific structural and non-structural measures for disaster risk mitigation, possibilities for applying specific measures for disaster risk mitigation, various possibilities for avoiding or transferring risks, possibilities for mitigating disaster risks, possibilities for using measures for disaster risk mitigation, the basic characteristics of various social networks.