Master’s in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation: Alumni Survey 2023

Employment statistics

• 79% of the respondents found a job in the DRMCCA or related field within 6 months.
• 90% of the respondents found a job in the DRMCCA or related field within 12 months

Alumni testimonials

Students describe the Master's in DRMCCA as a unique, up-to-date and comprehensive programme that provides you with the skills needed to succeed in your career. Furthermore, the quotes highlight the importance of gaining both theoretical and practical experience, which has helped the students build a critical and strategic mindset. The quotes are presented below, divided by the year of graduation. You can use the list below to jump straight to a specific year:

• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2017–2018

2022

"Generalist knowledge of many technical areas of DRM. Alongside the opportunity to dive deep into specific topics (through group work and written assignments) with teachers who have great technical knowledge and experience in all relevant subjects."

"Both soft skills — working in groups, communication across different cultures, critical thinking, problem-solving, adaptability, flexibility – and hard skills – usable models and theories." 

"Approaches to risk-based land use planning, capacity building, societal resilience, preparedness and planning, etc, provided me with a solid theoretical understanding of adaptation, which now applies to my current role." 

"I believe the master's programme managed to teach many interesting topics, and knowledge was transferred in an effective way. You were encouraged to think for yourself, find solutions for yourself and have an opinion on your own."

"Knowledge about actors on the scene, resilience, and the Swedish context has been good in my current job."

"The programme gave me the foundational knowledge to enter both climate and disaster-related work."

"It touched on most relevant topics in DRM and CCA, and provided the opportunity to use the tools that practitioners use."

"Internship opportunities, professors' networks, systemic analytical skills, qualitative and quantitative research, a combination of engineering and policy analysis skills, disasters and resilience technical knowledge."

2021

“It has given me a good ground and a compass both when it comes to specific skills like how one can conduct a risk and vulnerability analysis but also a general knowledge that guides me in my daily work. It has also given me a good critical mindset about the field and how to think and work strategically.”

“Flexibility of the thesis process was wonderful and allowed me to build skills or focus on topic areas that I felt were missed in coursework.”

“It helped me to develop my analytical skills and how to work in a team”

“Report writing and critical thinking, project management and teamworking, research, network and client growth.”

“The DRMCCA programme taught me how to analyse and organise a large amount of information, and report my finding in a clear, engaging way.”

“I gained up-to-date technical and specialist knowledge that I could apply to complex problems my organisation is working to tackle.”

“I learnt to consider multidisciplinary and complexity. I often use my network from the DRMCCA programme.”

“Many assignments and assessments within the programme are written which helped to strengthen my argumentative side and writing skills.”

“Multidisciplinary approach to analyse problems in the development field, including capacity building and development. A lot of soft skills are applicable to many jobs. “

“The holistic approach at the core of DRMCCA is absolutely essential when working in a dynamic, uncertain and changing field.”

2020

“Acknowledgment of the importance of focusing on "risk management" not "disaster management" and on reducing/understanding vulnerability instead of a sole focus on hazards.”

“Practice-based knowledge, broad coverage of DRMCCA topics, group work, internship, supportive mentoring to build confidence.”

“Conceptual understanding of the subject, knowledge of the field and its actors, academic writing through individual assignments and group reports, teamwork and project planning through group assignments.”

“Presenting our work often during the programme has helped me in e.g. facilitating meetings. I think that the critical view we are schooled to have has helped me cooperate with individuals who are not like myself in e.g. work methods and approaches to my work.”

“What is great, is that aside from the theory we also got to put into practice a lot of the tools that can become handy entering the professional world. As a soft skill, I think we got really used to working in teams, which is not a given and to recognise the value of having different professional perspectives on the same topic.”

“The Capacity Development course is just as relevant for Sweden as any other part of the world.”

“Professors taught me to adopt a critical perspective, questioning whether business as usual was the best way forward. Being prepared to ask the "right" questions and learn to function as a translator between different actors.”

“I am really grateful for all the knowledge and inspiration I got from the Master's. Also after the programme, I feel that I have made the right decision wanting to be and contribute to the field of DRMCCA.”

“Generally, I highly appreciate the variety of courses using different learning methods (group works, essays, video watching and reflections).”

2019

“DRMCCA developed my writing, research, and project development/management skills tremendously. Highly relevant skills to the DRMCCA field were exercised well and embedded in my day-to-day practice (ex. Stakeholder analysis, GIS, Logical Framework Approach). On top of all of this, the degree is future-oriented and in high demand nowadays, so the overall scope helps with finding employment.”

“It provided me with a range of technical skills and academic knowledge that made me feel comfortable about my tasks and responsibilities. /…/ The difference is I can always rely on past tools/papers that I used over the Master's and have a broader understanding of the terminology and conceptual frameworks used in this field.”

“It prepared me to work on topics related to climate change, sustainability and disaster risk. It gave skills to understand and prepare project proposals and deal with funding organisations.”

“I was chosen for my current role mainly because of the DRMCCA programme. There are no similar Master's programmes in my country and therefore the degree gives me a big advantage when applying for adaptation and risk management roles.”

“Ability to think and work in an interdisciplinary way with broad knowledge over various (related) fields, extensive group project work, insight into the DRM and CCA fields from professors and professionals."

“The programme gave me some knowledge in risk assessment methods. It also prepared me how to review professional documents and give constructive feedback. The different writing assignments with word limits helped me keep texts short and concise.”

“I also developed skills in writing and dissemination that I use on a day-to-day basis.”

2017-2018

”In the two positions I have held since completing the DRMCCA programme, it has become clear that the programme has been tailored to meet a need for skills. Particularly the knowledge I have gained within capacity development has proven in demand and knowledge of risk and resilience has also been useful.”

“It provided a complete overview and understanding of the DRM field and processes, as well as knowledge and training of those processes.”

“High-quality education, provided with integrity and elite academia. Those who are aware of good research universities, value the background from Lund and will complement it and maybe even take this into consideration alone.”

“1. Opportunity to take an internship-based course (career advancement). 2. Professional and international network: staff, current students and alumni. 3. An in-demand MSc programme that stands out (specialist knowledge and skills).”

“This Master's degree has opened a way to apply for jobs requiring higher degree education. Also, I feel like my way of thinking is more analytical and critical in a good sense.”

“I think the programme gives us a good taste of a lot of different tracks that we can then move forward with and some general tools that I am able to use in my current job. Even though I do not work directly with DDR or CCA I can still use theory, tools etc. that we learned.”

“The international degree of Lund University is highly reputed which made it easy for me to get a job. The courses that we studied during our Master's programme were highly beneficial. The project management aspect learned in the capacity development course helped me a lot to manage and lead the project that I am currently working on.”

“The programme introduced some applicable key concepts within the humanitarian world as well as laid out a foundation for critical thinking when it comes to challenges for sustainability.”

“Personally, I benefitted in multiple ways, as many of the topics covered are some that I come across very often in working life and while looking for employment. It gave me a broad but yet very compressive introduction to the humanitarian landscape, and I have an easy time navigating in the humanitarian sector.”

“For the Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) advisor role, I very much needed the knowledge from societal resilience and capacity development. I experienced that the challenges of capacity development are just as present in first world countries as in developing countries when it comes to CCA.”

“The programme equipped me with the right tools and knowledge for my work. The internship provided me with the opportunity to develop a network and work experience.”

“My knowledge and skills about capacity development, preparedness and planning, and emergency coordination, are skills that I apply every day in my current work. Also, my skill to analyse a problem and look at a project in a comprehensive way is applied often.”