Essentials of Crowd Science

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Self-paced and online

In 18 modules we cover in depth the essentials of crowd science and risk analysis tools with their application for planning and managing places of public assembly. Expanding on all the themes in the Basics course with an extensive range of documents for your studies. This course includes the 3DRTDS crowd visualizing software and access to the Basics course.

Learning Certifications

  • UK Level 5 qualification (IIRSM and Highfield)
  • NCS4 Endorsed

​Aims and objectives

Essentials of Crowd Safety will provide in depth insights into the causes (and prevention) of crowd related disasters. This course provides relevant tools and methods to assess crowd safety and crowd risk analysis in places of public assembly.

Requirements for Completion

  • Access is granted for 60 Days from enrollment.
  • Complete two written assignments and pass the final assessment quiz with a score of more than 50%.
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​Course modules

1. Moodle for the first time user

Get to know the course navigation system and system menus. Click on the lectures and slides to take you to the video clips of the course materials for each topic. In the resources folders, you will find further reading materials.

2. The DIM-ICE risk model

Learn the underlying causality of major accident and incidents. Understand the development and use of the DIM-ICE model and use a template to review. See the principles and applications of crowd science, crowd modelling and crowd risk analysis. The modelling approach also covers different perspectives of crowd safety and risk analysis and we outline the ways in which design, information and management influences crowd behavior in the built and complex environment.

Lesson Topics

  1. Introduction
  2. Understanding the underlying causality of crowd accidents and incidents
  3. History of accidents and incidents
  4. Understanding perceptions/perspective
  5. How crowds are influenced by design, information and management
  6. Understand how crowds perceive the built and complex environments
  7. Understand problems with signage/information at venues and events
  8. Management process and crowd perceptions of management
  9. Managing crowds safely
  10. The DIM-ICE risk analysis models and their application

3. Crowd dynamics

Learn the principles of crowd dynamics, what risks are associated with packing density (static crowds) and moving space requirements (dynamic crowds) for crowd safety and crowd risk analysis. Undrstand the formation of “shock waves” in the crowd and how they develop. The module includes two assessments for system design.

Lesson Topics

  1. Static crowd density
  2. Moving crowd density
  3. Crowd shockwaves
  4. Crowd collapse
  5. The dynamics of crowd collapse
  6. Queuing systems
  7. Flowing systems

4. Crowd modelling

Define event planning, crowd and event modelling, spatial analysis and how design influences crowd behavior. Learn principles of modelling crowds and events safety. See how models are used in a control room environment for early warning indications of potential crowd problems.

Lesson Topics

  1. How to evaluate space
  2. How to map crowded spaces
  3. What is a model
  4. How to model a site
  5. How to influence site egress
  6. Understand how to represent crowd flow on a site model
  7. Understand the risks associated with a high density crowded space
  8. Understand how to influence egress behavior

5. RAMP analysis

Define the crowd dynamics using a technique we call a "RAMP" Analysis. This looks at the Routes, the Areas, the Movement (over time) and the crowd Profile (People) of the event space. Focused on crowd dynamics approaching, moving around and departing the site. Learn the principles and applications of RAMP analysis using a case study from a real-time crowd counting example.

Lesson Topics

  1. Understanding the process of approximations
  2. Defining complex spaces using approximations
  3. Routes, Areas, Movement and Profile/People definitions
  4. Establishing the arrival profile
  5. Establishing crowd profiles
  6. Using RAMP analysis for planning and managing crowds
  7. How this was used to evaluate mass gatherings (case study)

6. Crowd monitoring

Demonstrating how models can assist in decision support when they are integrated into the control room monitoring systems.  How to use the principles of influencing crowd behavior for crowd safety management. Highlight the problem of control room perceptions and how to enhance the detection of potential crowd problems in the control room.

Lesson Topics

  1. Inattentional blindness
  2. Change blindness
  3. Peripheral vision blindness
  4. Influencing crowd behaviour
  5. Crowd crazing
  6. Influences of social media on crowds
  7. How crowd behaviour is manipulated by marketing companies

7. Queueing systems

Establish the principles of how queues form and how crowds react in queueing systems. Understand the balance between safety (screening/searching) and security coupled with the crowd risks when queueing regimes are changed. Covering the principles of queueing behavior, psychology and dynamics. An introduction to the general queueing model formula for determining queue build up over time. Focusing on the balance between crowd safety and crowd security.

Lesson Topics

  1. Queueing behaviour
  2. Queueing systems
  3. Balancing safety and security for events/venues/sites
  4. Ingress (arrival rates)
  5. Egress queuing systems
  6. Site design for queueing systems
  7. Using the queueing models

8. Risk analysis

Introduction to the issues of public perceptions of risks, the professional perception of risk and issues related to risk reporting. Introduction to the concepts of risk and congestion mapping for places of public assembly.

Lesson Topics

  1. How the public perceives risks
  2. How professional perceive risk
  3. Key elements in risk awareness
  4. Risk analysis during incident investigation
  5. How the public understand risks (examples)
  6. Key risk liabilities
  7. The risk analysis process
  8. Problems with information in the risk analysis
  9. How to capture and communicate risks
  10. Using the risk mapping for event planning/management

9. Site design

Learn how a crowd moves around sites, how to construct a connection diagram and how to use this for site design. Understand the principles of using a basic connection diagram to assess crowd dynamics within a complex site.

Lesson Topics

  1. Network modelling
  2. Braess’s paradox
  3. How to recognise Braess’s paradox
  4. Modelling the Olympics site (1)
  5. Calculating the minimum width of a route
  6. Modelling the Olympic site (2)
  7. Exhibition application

10. Site egress analysis

Through a guided application of the risk assessment learn how to assess risk of an event egress problem using a case study and site dimensions.

Lesson Topics

  1. How to read maps/plans and apply data to a case study
  2. How to model a site
  3. How to communicate the risks
  4. How to address key safety issues on a case study

11. Emergency response

Determining the resources required to provide optimal resource cover for a complex site has proven to be a very effective tool for cost-effective site cover. Learn the principles of using connection diagrams to determine optimal, cost-effective, resource deployment. See how to apply the principles of network analysis to the problem of reducing the emergency response time for a complex site.

Lesson Topics

  1. Network analysis
  2. Time evaluation
  3. Minimum response time analysis
  4. Average response time analysis
  5. Risk-Adjusted response time analysis
  6. Application for a large area analysis

12. Crowd simulations

Look at problems with simulations and how simulations and real-time analysis can provide misleading results. Demonstration of a Progressive crowd collapse for a Premier League analysis (UK) and evaluate how these risks can be identified and mitigated in stadia. Learn how progressive crowd collapse can occur at a concert and the trigger effect that leads to progressive crowd collapse.  We illustrate the difference between the “Hollywood” crowd/model, the computer scientists’ crowd/model and the risk analysis modelling approach to simulations. Learn the application of crowd simulations for risk analysis with emphasis on the “good, the bad and the dangerous” use of crowd simulations for major event planning.

Lesson Topics

  1. Limits to crowd simulations (density limits)
  2. Real crowd density
  3. Crowd Collapse
  4. Pressure modelling
  5. Modelling crowd collapse
  6. Examples of crowd collapse at football matches
  7. Crowd collapse at a concert
  8. Examples of different types of crowd simulations
  9. How to use the simulation for crowd safety and risk analysis

13. Decision analysis

Assessing and analyzing the effective use of resources, where investment is required, assessing communications and their effectiveness for events and determining key areas of vulnerabilities are covered in this lecture. Demonstrating the use of matrix analysis for crowd communication, professional communication, risk analysis related to time and location and how to build a crowd decision support analysis.

Lesson Topics

  1. Examples of various decision support analysis techniques
  2. Crowd communication
  3. Risk v location v time
  4. Time v density v flow v risk

14. Emergency situations

Learn the behavioral elements for an emergency situation, viewing the problems of emergency egress from the crowd’s perspective.  Covering the human factors during emergency situations with specific focus on behavioral based safety, emergency communications.

Lesson Topics

  1. Media issues and media management
  2. Planning and anticipating problems
  3. The recovery cycles
  4. Communication with the Crowd
  5. Mixed messages
  6. Crowd behaviour in an emergency
  7. Modelling major site evacuation plans
  8. How to use a real-time evacuation system
  9. Example – human behaviour in an emergency
  10. Complacency on a site
  11. Modelling evacuation
  12. Understanding human behaviour in an emergency
  13. Behavioural-based safety
  14. Egress strategies and decision support analysis

15. Course summary

Final summary of the course content to review lessons before the final test.

Lesson Topics

  1. Introduction and overview
  2. The DIM-ICE risk model
  3. Crowd dynamics and crowd risks (Static and Moving)
  4. Crowd Modelling for Events
  5. RAMP Analysis
  6. Crowd monitoring
  7. Introduction to queueing systems
  8. Risk Analysis
  9. Site design considerations
  10. Event egress analysis
  11. Optimizing emergency responses
  12. Crowd simulations
  13. Decision support analysis
  14. Emergency Situations

16. Report writing

Here, we cover how to write to the academic style and use Harvard referencing. You can submit a draft (typically the table of contents and some notes) for review prior to submitting your essays, via email.

17. The assessment papers

The first assessment paper is an essay discussing the development, application, and a critical analysis of crowd science (crowd modelling and crowd dynamics). The minimum word count is 1,500 words. There is no upper limit to the word count.

The second assessment paper is an essay discussing the development, application, and uses of the various models discussed in the lectures. You must include examples of the modelling tools for an event including a critical analysis of their application. DIM-ICE, Density and flow rates, Risk and Congestion Mapping, RAMP Analysis, Decision Support Analysis, related to an event of your choice. Again, the minimum word count is 1,500 words. There is no upper limit to the word count.