Security and safety challenges are at the top of the list of the most pressing issues of contemporary society. Challenges such as cyber-crime, terrorism and environmental disasters directly affect the lives of millions of citizens across the globe. In today's increasingly interconnected world, these security and safety challenges are becoming increasingly complex. Developments, such as globalization and the rapid development of information and communication technologies mean that many of such challenges transcend boundaries, manifesting themselves simultaneously at the local, regional, national and international levels.

Given the growing complexity of modern-day security and safety challenges, potential solutions to such challenges require a wide range of societal actors cooperating not only at multiple levels of governance, but also across different perspectives and approaches. Towards developing such a cross-cutting, interdisciplinary approach, the Institute for Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) has created a MOOC - massive open online course - which introduces participants to the broad theme of security and safety in an increasingly complex world. Titled ‘Security and Safety Challenges in a Globalized World’, this MOOC features dr. Bibi van den Berg and dr. Ruth Prins as lecturers, and searches for answers to important questions such as: what is security and safety? How can we better understand security and safety challenges? And how can we deal with these challenges?

To answer these questions, the MOOC combines the viewpoints of different academic perspectives with real-life case studies and interviews to explore and better understand contemporary security and safety challenges. Cases which will be explored include the Boston Marathon bombing, the sinking of the Kursk submarine, and the Bhopal gas disaster. Each of these cases will be analyzed through different academic perspectives, enabling participants to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of modern-day security and safety challenges.

This course is aimed at everybody with a broad interest in the topic of safety and security and does not require any prior knowledge.

To learn more and to enroll, please watch the trailer below, and click on the following link to enroll in this free, exciting new course that starts on January 23: Security and Safety Challenges in a Globalized World.