Indonesian partnership brings real-world disaster recovery into Royal Roads classroom

Learn more about the Master of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management. 

Photo credit, Wikimedia Commons: Crisco 1492, CC BY-SA 4.0. This resort at Tanjung Karang Beach, Central Sulawesi, was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami shortly after this photo was taken.

A major challenge in any classroom is connecting theoretical learning with real-world applications. 

That hasn’t been a problem for students in recent cohorts of Royal Roads University’s Disaster Response and Sustainable Recovery class — it doesn’t get much more real than an earthquake and tsunami. 

Students in the Master of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management and other Royal Roads programs acted as international consultants to policymakers and practitioners in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands in Southeast Asia.

Their reports centred on the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami, which led to more than 4,400 deaths, displaced some 170,000 people and caused more than a billion dollars in economic losses. 

The work grew out of a unique five-year partnership that began in fall 2025 between the university and Indonesia’s Pujiono Centre, which studies disaster and climate risk reduction. 

Introducing real-world problems to the classroom 

Mahmood Fayazi, who has years of international experience in disaster and emergency management, says it was the desire to broaden MADEM students’ horizons that prompted the collaboration with Pujiono.  

“The international flavour in this program was missing,” says the assistant professor and head of the MADEM program. “This program was heavily focused on Canada and, to some extent, the U.S. 

“The idea [of the partnership] was to introduce real-world problems to the classroom and turn it into an assignment and class activities for the students,” Fayazi explains. “Conducting research, translating research outcomes for the benefit of the policy makers, decision makers and practitioners — that was perfect for the purpose of our program.” 

While Pujiono researchers and Indonesian government officials shared their work with students, the students formed teams to study different aspects of disaster recovery and ultimately presented their findings to partners. 

“Conducting research, translating research outcomes for the benefit of the policymakers, decision-makers and practitioners — that was perfect for the purpose of our program.”

Recovery from disaster covered in students’ reports 

Their reports covered topics including economic, housing, infrastructure, governance and psychosocial recovery. 

The psychosocial recovery report was authored by six students, including Al Beaver, a 40-year veteran of wildfire management who took the class as part of a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies.  

In his work with multiple levels of government, he focused on the physical aspects of wildfires — how they burn, how to put them out, how to prevent them — but says the report for the Pujiono Centre expanded his thinking. Now he was learning to include how people and communities recover from disasters, an area where he had less experience. 

“The social and psychological recovery domain focuses on restoring emotional well-being, rebuilding social cohesion and supporting mental health after disasters,” states the report. It adds that governments need to plan for psychosocial recovery — including challenges  such as mass trauma and changes in how people perceive risk — just as they do for damaged physical assets. 

Positive relationship with Pujiono Centre 

A veteran in the field of disaster recovery lauds the Royal Roads project with the Pujiono Centre. 

“Such a collaboration creates a bridge between theory and practice,” says Seeta Giri, a recovery advisor with the United Nations Development Programme and  case co-ordinator for the project. “RRU brings strengths in research, leadership development and sustainability-focused education while the Pujiono Centre contributes contextual knowledge and on-the-ground experience in Indonesia. 

“Such partnerships can produce scalable development models that can be replicated across regions,” she says. 

Fayazi notes that the response to the relationship from Pujiono Centre partners has been positive, with an eye to continuing and expanding opportunities through the program. He even sees potential for further relationships with other countries. 

And the feedback from students on their close collaboration with their instructors and Indonesian partners has been encouraging, he says. “With that experience, the students became even more engaged and excited about their education.” 

About DEMN553 Disaster Response and Sustainable Recovery: The course analyzes response to and recovery from disaster events across different social units (e.g., household, organizations, communities). Examines paradigms, theories and models that aid in the understanding of disaster response and sustainable recovery. Explores the ways in which life in a digital world is influencing and shaping response and recovery practices. Examines what is empirically known about disaster response and sustainable recovery and appraises the implications of this knowledge for advancing response and recovery practice.