Educational Training and Seminar
UNESCO Chair in DRR-RE organises regular seminar and training on the topics related to the resilient school infrastructure. Below you can find the details of the past, current and future training and seminar organised by the Chair. For the past training and seminar, you can also find the video recordings in the EPICentre Youtube Channel.

- SMARTnet – Non-Engineered Seismic Design 2.0
In this webinar organized by the UNESCO Chair in DRR&RE at UCL, Martijn Schildkamp, Founder of the SMARTnet, presents about improving the seismic design of non-engineered masonry buildings.
- Appropriate structural engineering in humanatarian and international development contexts
In this webinar organized by EPICentre and UNESCO Chair in DRR&RE at UCL, Sebastian Kaminski, Associate Structural Engineer at Arup, presents his experience regarding the appropriate structural engineering in humanitarian and international development contexts.
Video recording:
YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhButNn1TFQ - Towards an integrated assessment strategy for masonry structures
In this joint seminar organized by EPICentre and UNESCO Chair in DRR&RE at UCL, Dr. Rita Esposito, Assistant Professor at TU Delft, talks about an integrated assessment strategy for masonry structures.
Video recording:
YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bHwUUN1Cuo
- The Democratisation of Cat Models Webinar
UNESCO Chair in Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Engineering (DRR&RE) at University College London (UCL) is organizing this talk by OASIS Loss Modelling Framework on democratisation of Cat Models.
Video recording:
YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAvaQq3jkHg
- Engineering based fragility and vulnerability assessment
This two-days webinar by UNESCO Chair in DRR&RE at UCL will cover the engineering based fragility and vulnerability assessment of school buildings using simple yet reliable procedures.
Video recording:
Day 1:
YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgS4XkcslhM Day 2:
YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqIbE-SDGZg - Probabilistic Risk Assessment for Disaster Risk Reduction - CAPRA Platform
The short online training course titled ‘Disaster risk assessment for disaster risk reduction in school infrastructure – CAPRA platform’, was successfully delivered by the UNESCO Chair in Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Engineering (DRR&RE) at University College London (UCL).
Video recording:
YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM92Zv8JRgU
- Introduction to Seismic Analysis with OpenSees
This short course teaches you how to use OpenSees and how to conduct non-linear seismic response analyses. The course is an interactive and practical introduction to OpenSees modelling and analysis.
- Classification and vulnerability evaluation of school buildings for seismic risk reduction
Classification and vulnerability evaluation of school buildings for seismic risk reduction – the GLOSI framework.
Video recording:
Day 1:
YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp_3SM9VlYY Day 2:
YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IyPytYTRP0
Open Educational Resources
- Online Course - Simplified Structural Assessment for Seismic Fragility Analysis
This course aims to teach simplified structural assessment approaches for the development of fragility curves. Fragility curves are essential components of earthquake risk assessments and are developed and used by researchers, civil engineering consultants and insurers.
The course brings state of the art technqiues and tools to developers of fragility curves, promoting a consistent approach to the inclusion of uncertainty. It is aimed at students with an MSc level education in an engineering subject.
- Data Collection for Creating Baseline Information on Schools
To create a school infrastructure baseline, robust data collection tools are required to systematically capture and update key information about school buildings and facilities. Different approaches can be used to complement the establishment of a baseline for quantitative risk assessments, or to conduct a post-disaster damage assessment.
The GLOSI provides a systematic data collection framework, tools and guidance which support countries in creating a school infrastructure baseline using available technology.
- Structural Taxonomy (Classification) of School Building
The GLOSI taxonomy classifies school buildings based on 12 parameters which are known to govern the building’s structural performance. These parameters can be broadly categorized into primary (first 3 parameters) and secondary (remaining 9 parameters). The output of the taxonomy is a building’s string of attributes related to each parameter. The taxonomy string can be seen as the building’s DNA.
The development of the GLOSI taxonomy stems from recent World Bank engagement information on school buildings in Nepal, El Salvador, Peru and the Kyrgyz Republic.
- Fragility & Vulnerability Functions for Selected School Building Types from Different Countries
A systematic methodological framework is used to derive both seismic fragility and vulnerability functions for all index buildings included in the Catalog of Building Types. Here you can find information on how the functions were derived, as well as references for further reading. The use of these functions for a specific quantitative risk assessment might require calibration to reflect the performance of a given building type particular to a country or region.
This framework promotes the use of a performance-based assessment as an instrument to identify cost-efficient seismic retrofitting solutions that can be implemented at scale across large portfolios of school buildings at risk from natural hazard events.
- Strengthening Solutions for Typical School Building Types
This online resource provides vulnerability reduction solutions for selected load bearing masonry and reinforced concrete school building types.
