The Postgraduate Certificate in Global Risk Analysis and Crisis Management provides participants with unique insights and fundamental skills required for mastering the field of global risk analysis, early warning and the management of major man-made and natural disasters. The programme is offered in an online format, with the 5 modules spread from October through December. All Modules are held fully online.

The programme is taught by a renowned faculty of senior officials from major international organisations (such as the European Union, NATO and the United Nations), NGOs as well as leading security scholars (see Teaching staff section below). Examples in previous years include Mireia Villar (Senior Policy Advisor, United Nations Development Programme, UNDP), Karen Frazer (Former Head of Corporate Affairs and Risk Communication, MASTERCARD), Florika Fink-Hooijer (Director of Strategy, Policy and International Co-operation, DG Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, ECHO, European Commission), Lotta Lampela (Adviser to the Director of the EU Intelligence and Analysis Centre, INTCEN), Leon Prop (Director, Red Cross EU Office), and Jamie Shea (Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Emerging Security Threats, NATO).

The Brussels School of Governance is an alliance between the Institute for European Studies (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and Vesalius College. This Postgraduate Certificate in Global Risk Analysis and Crisis Management is a programme of which the degree will be awarded by Vesalius College.

The programme allows for much interaction and constructive criticism and offered a holistic approach to Crisis Management. Indeed, it looks at how to prevent and prepare a crisis through strategic foresight tools, risk indicators/categories, and open-source intelligence, but also at how to handle situations under stress through a crisis communication plan, for instance, or on how to monitor a crisis. As practitioners (EU, UN, NATO, …) handle this post-graduate degree, it allowed me to develop many practical skills and discover many useful IT tools.
Student smiling
Sarah Haber
Postgraduate Certificate alumna

Key features

  • Taught by a renowned faculty of senior officials from major international organisations
  • Participants are introduced to the most modern IT tools for open source intelligence and to the main methods for early warning and monitoring global crises
  • Practical skills training includes fundamental training on selection bias, on gathering data in crisis situations
  • Programme structure aimed at stimulating exchanges between participants and leading senior officials.
  • Strong link to the policy-maker scene in Brussels
  • Unique educational experience based on the STEP approach to teaching and learning
  • Supported by the extensive expertise of our Office for Teaching, Learning and Innovation to accommodate sophisticated blended teaching methods