Well before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the popularity of podcasts and webcasts has already risen exponentially. Particularly for the millennial and Gen Z crowds, these mediums have become a vital part of their routines. The ongoing health crisis, which necessitated work and study from home arrangements, further increased the popularity of podcasts and webcasts (along with webinars and teleconferencing) as people resort to online learning, work, and entertainment.
Many among AIM’s EMDRCM students serve as Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) officers. They regularly share their insights with the AIM community and the general public via the EMDRCM Live! webcast.
In the education sector, however, few podcasts or webcasts ring a bell to the random listener or viewer. Education-related podcasts and webcasts tend to be familiar only within academic circles. The Asian Institute of Management’s Stephen Zuellig Graduate School of Development Management (AIM-ZSDM) wishes to change this narrative, and has started to engage students, alumni, faculty and the wider community to deliver the EMDRCM* Live! and MDM** Live! webcasts, not only for the AIM community, but also for members of the general public wishing to learn more about sustainable development, environment protection, and disaster risk and crisis management. For starters, the webcast episodes are streamed live via AIM’s Facebook page (which currently has over 160,000 followers) and recordings are also made available. In addition, AIM-ZSDM will soon be launching its Instagram Live versions of both EMDRCM Live! and MDM Live!.
Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go (AIM-ZSDM School Head) shared his thoughts on the EMDRCM program and on developments related to COVID-19 during the very first EMDRCM Live! webcast last February 27, 2020.
It was early this year when AIM-ZSDM organized the very first EMDRCM Live! webcast. For its first episode on February 27, 2020, EMDRCM cohort 1 student Wally Panganiban interviewed AIM-ZSDM School Head Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go about the uniqueness of the EMDRCM program as well as developments related to COVID-19. The webcast highlighted the need for a disaster risk and crisis management program that focuses on the leadership aspect to effectively deal with disasters and crises. Important lessons and updates on COVID-19 were likewise imparted to the viewers of the inaugural webcast. The episode proved timely and highly relevant, especially since there was much uncertainty surrounding the novel disease, as it was yet to be declared a pandemic.
Prof. Arnil Paras (MDM Academic Program Director) led a discussion on impact leadership during a recently held MDM Live! webcast.
Weeks into the community quarantine, the MDM program followed suit, and members of the current MDM 2020 cohort participated in the inaugural MDM Live! episodes to tackle issues ranging from food security to single use plastics. The webcast proved helpful in allowing the students to promote their personal advocacies and is consistent with the MDM program’s goal of providing learning opportunities to students beyond the physical classroom.
In a nutshell, both EMDRCM Live! and MDM Live! are student and alumni-led platforms that aim to build a community of disaster resilience and social impact leaders, game-changers, and champions. Speakers and guests engage in meaningful discussions on disaster risk and crisis management, social innovations, social entrepreneurship, sustainable business models, business transformations, and impact investing. These platforms provide the added benefit of enabling AIM-ZSDM to promote its programs via its best ambassadors – alumni and students of the master’s programs!
Apart from the webcasts, AIM-ZSDM leverages on the collective shift to online modalities across industries by bringing trial classes and roadshows to stakeholders and potential Master’s degree candidates through online channels. For instance, the MDM program delivered a trial class for MDM applicants, where they tackled the Sustainable Development Goals in the context of the New Normal last June 25, 2020, while the EMDRCM program plans to engage Zamboanga City’s business leaders and entrepreneurs in a roundtable discussion to promote co-creation of solutions this August.
The freshly launched AIM-ZSDM microsite features a modern design and easier navigation for site visitors to quickly locate needed information on the School and its programs and initiatives.
AIM-ZSDM wishes to take this opportunity to invite everyone to check out upcoming events through its newly launched website, devatwork.aim.edu.
