We offer short courses, workshops and continuing education opportunities informed by the latest research and exemplary practices and developed by our expert faculty.
Vulnerability Assessment
This course describes vulnerability mapping, why it is important, and how it can be used. The course defines hazard exposure, focusing on physically vulnerable areas with special emphasis on social vulnerability — or characteristics of a population which may make it more vulnerable than others. The course summarizes the latest research on factors planners and emergency managers should look for when mitigating, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters.
Texas Planning Atlas
Learn to use this web-based tool to gather data about your community and assess your vulnerabilities. This geographical information system tool is specifically designed for emergency managers and planners to develop a sound fact basis for decision-making and evaluating coastal hazards in Texas.
Community Asset Mapping
This course compliments vulnerability mapping by focusing on opportunities to increase resilience through mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery planning. Participants will learn how to identify community safe zones, alternative uses for public facilities, and ways to improve local coordination in times of need.
Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard
The Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard™ (PIRS) assists local practitioners to assess the degree to which networks of local plans target geographic areas most prone to hazards and evaluate the coordination of local plans.
Hazard Mitigation Toolbox
Hazard mitigation is a required element of emergency management plans. This course describes structural and non-structural mitigation techniques that are effective for emergency managers as well as city and regional planners. The course describes a study that assessed hazard mitigation plans throughout Texas. A metric was developed to measure plan quality that can be used in assessing local plans. The study found significant gaps and weaknesses and suggests specific ways communities can bolster their hazard mitigation and increase resilience. There are many cost-effective and politically acceptable strategies that can be incorporated into the comprehensive planning process — techniques that are well established, but often overlooked.
Community Resilience
Resilience is the ability of a community to resist and absorb impacts, rapidly recover from those impacts and to adaptively learn from the experience. Participants will learn how to form teams, gather information and data, and align the perceptions of local knowledge with data. Participants will also learn how to form a community vision to guide the community where it wants to be and how it will get there. Participants will hear promising strategies for mobilizing human and fiscal resources, both internal and external to the community. Participants will also determine a timeline based on the community vision.
Disaster Recovery
Planning for disaster recovery can greatly reduce your recovery time and increase your resilience. We will discuss elements that should be considered when developing a disaster recovery plan, as well as stakeholder engagement and case studies of effective disaster recovery plans. Participants will be able to evaluate existing recovery plans and discover elements which create high plan quality.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension is a TxTC affiliate that offers even more courses and training opportunities.
Knowledge to Action handouts are available from the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center.