Executive Certificate in Resilience Leadership (UCL - BCI)
These two days and a half executive education programme merges strategic insights from systemic risk, global resilience frameworks with experiential learning and board-level simulations. It is designed for senior leaders in corporate and government sectors to strengthen decision-making, operational resilience, and strategic foresight in an interconnected world. It targets individuals and organizations aspiring to strengthen or establish Chief Resilience Officers functions, and achieve a global understanding of resilience leadership, creating a baseline of common skills for assuring the capacity to adapt and evolve in times of uncertainty.
Learning Objectives
- Develop investment-ready resilience strategies and embed resilience thinking into corporate governance, risk, and sustainability frameworks.
- Equip executives and aspiring leaders with advanced tools to monitor risk management (e.g., Resilience Maturity Assessment (ReMA) or similar tools) and lead through crises.
- Facilitate cross-sectoral and cross-border exchange on resilience practices.
- Strengthen decision-making under uncertainty.
- Design and evaluate stress tests and resilience Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
- Deliver a board-level pitch with strategic recommendations and develop the ability to demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) of resilience initiatives
- Foster an international network of resilience-focused leaders.
Daily Programme Structure
The programme is delivered over three consecutive days, combining keynote talks, interactive labs, panel discussions, and a capstone boardroom simulation. Each day follows a consistent cadence:
|
Time |
Programme |
|---|---|
|
09:00–10:30 |
Interactive case/mini-lecture |
|
10:45–12:30 |
Applied theoretical advancements and concepts |
|
13:30–15:00 |
Clinic lab (corporate vis à vis government) |
|
15:15–16:45 |
Action-learning project (teams) + feedback discussion |
|
16:45–17:00 |
Day debrief / reflections |
Day 1 – Operational Environment: Foundations and Risk Landscape
26 October 2026
- 09:00–10:30 Introduction: Challenges and opportunities in preparing for the unknown. (Duncan or Devon Rossi, UCL)
- 10:45–12:30 Module 1: Crisis typologies, systemic risk and resilience paradigms. Speaker (Confirmed): Professor Danny Ralph, Cambridge University
- 13:30–15:00 Module 2: Understanding single points of failure between emerging risks and stress testing (e.g. increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events, cyber threats, pandemics). Speaker (Confirmed): Prof. Gianluca Pescaroli, UCL
- 15:15–17:00 Lab and debrief Cascading effects, mapping and designing narrative for resilience.
Lab: Managed by Prof. Pescaroli’s Team (Femke Mulder, if Available), plus discussion with a guest (Deliverable: Draft narrative and baseline maturity).
Day 2 – Tools: Strategic foresight, stress test, and emerging technologies
27 October 2026
- 09:00–10:30 Module 3: Strategic foresight, horizon scanning and scenario planning.
Speaker: In this session, we could have BCI speaking about trend and patterns in HSC reports, plus if interested with Gianluca moderating.
- 10:45–12:30 Module 4: Applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technologies for supporting resilience. Speaker (Confirmed): Saman Ghaffarian, UCL
- 13:30–15:00 Challenges for futureproofing your organization, including identifying and protecting critical functions, and assessing resilience maturity (Richard, possible panel).
- 15:15–17:00 Lab and discussion: Design a stress test scenario using AI. Managed by Gialuca’s team.
Panel Discussion on the role of AI, futureproofing, and the role of lateral thinking (Confirmed: Richard Fitzhug)
- Deliverable: Develop a roadmap for AI integration in resilience strategies.
Day 3 – Corporate leadership: frameworks and strategic action
28 October 2026
- 09:00–10:30 Module 5: Leadership, financing change, and corporate resilience framework. Introduction by Gianluca and Danny Joining lecture. Stephen, Sky
- 10:45–12:30 Capstone Lab: Boardroom pitch simulation with panel feedback. Public-private collaboration on resilience (Invite here also Chris Needham Benennet)
- Deliverable: 90-day resilience implementation plan
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