The PhD in Territory, Risk and Public Policies is an inter-university programme jointly offered by the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning (IGOT) and the Centre for Geographical Studies (CEG) of the University of Lisbon, the Centre for Social Studies (CES) and the Interdisciplinary Research Institute (III) of the University of Coimbra, and the Department of Environment and Spatial Planning of the University of Aveiro.
Risk Sciences, as a disciplinary area, have acquired in recent years a growing visibility and institutionalization, especially in international organizations such as UNESCO and the Council of Europe.
The PhD programme was designed for a public with higher education, but diversified, ranging from social sciences to natural and exact sciences and technologies, allowing for an integrated vision and quantification of the resilience and resistance capacity of communities and individuals, based on the joint consideration of several uncertainties, and on the selection of relevant variables for the assessment and perception of risk in human communities.
The course provides solid scientific training in the different areas related to the problematic of risk, both in the modelling of processes, in territorial management and in the mobilisation of individuals and communities, as well as in the articulation and implementation of public policies. The aim is to define the foundations and support instruments for risk management policy, including, in addition to structural measures and emergency systems, measures to reduce social vulnerability, normative instruments, taking into account the national legal and strategic framework, as well as community directives and the strategies and regulations of international organisations.
The programme runs for a total of four years.