Can a course on the calculation of the effects of fires, explosions and toxic gas dispersions, be topical, enjoyable and meaningful?

The paper describes the development of a course on Risk Assessment aiming to enhance awareness and comprehension of the procedures; it was also intended to make the subject attractive and enjoyable to the students. Extra care was undertaken to employ multimedia tools and videos during the teaching of the course. Additionally, the course is graded on a combination of section-by-section in-class exercises (80%) and a peer-assessed group project (20%). The course is an elective, taught in the fourth year of the Chemical Engineering curriculum at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In this work, the syllabus of the course, the teaching tools and the grading procedure are explained in detail. Moreover, a summary of students’ feedback and comments (also provided) indicates that in many respects the aims have been achieved.