Spatial Problems and Spatial Policies: The Dutch Experience (10 EC)

The fundamental strengths and weaknesses of the course "Spatial Problems and Spatial Policies: The Dutch Experience", and student experiences in the course, stem from the same two intrinsic characteristics. These are first that students bring with them a wide variety of different educational cultural backgrounds and have reached different levels of attainment in varied academic skills and disciplines. This is the case with any group of students but is clearly particularly marked with students who come from different educational systems at varied stages in their educational career, and are in Groningen for different purposes and lengths of time. Secondly, foreign students are by definition unfamiliar with the City of Groningen, The Netherlands, and possibly even Europe. The resulting 'culture shock' in all its dimensions presents students with the task of rapidly eliminating a deficit in fundamental knowledge, but equally presents them with a unique opportunity to view our situation through their own perspectives and, even more important in the long run, to use the foreignness of their experience in Groningen to place their home situation in a new context, confronting hitherto unacknowledged assumptions. The course has been constructed not merely to bypass and accommodate these characteristics as weaknesses but equally to exploit them as strengths. The comparative approach will therefore never be far from the surface in all topics handled. The Dutch case is being used not as an end in itself but as the common yardstick against which one can place own individual experiences. There are many possible approaches to the study of planning but that adopted here is problem oriented: planning is thus seen as a problem solving operation. In part this may be dictated by the two different but related types of academic disciplines represented among contributors, and the course can roughly be divided into two parts: 1. The first half is dominated by geographers and demographers interested in describing spatial patterns and the processes that cause and influence them. From such patterns problems, whether economic, social, political or demographic, can be identified and delineated. 2. The second half of the course is given principally by contributors interested more directly in intervention, whether through influencing the public or private actors. This should be an analysis of solutions through policy.

 Population, health and place

This module aims to introduce students to the dual link between health at the population level and place or geography. On completion of the module, students will be able to describe the geographical variations (international & regional) in health levels and trends. Students will also gain an understanding of the different factors influencing health and spatial variations in health, among which the socio-cultural and physical environment. They will be familiarized with the provision and use of health care services and geographical differences therein. They will gain an understanding of the geographical diffusion of diseases and are able to reflect on the role of place on health. In addition, students will be able to provide an overview of current research, conceptual frameworks and developments within the field of medical demography and health geography and they will acquire knowledge of data sources, methods and measures used in this subdiscipline. The students will apply part of the knowledge acquired during the course in a group paper. Omschrijving This module introduces students to the dual link between health at the population level and place or geography. The module is very interdisciplinary. The module will not only discuss concepts from (medical) demography and (health) geography, but also from epidemiology, medical sociology and medical anthropology. The module expounds the clear relationship between demography, and geography/planning in the field of health through discussion of for example the relationship between mobility/migration and health, population ageing and health and population decline and health. A number of lectures will be presented by guest lecturers from various fields and institutes. In addition to the lectures, students have to write and present a paper, in groups of four students, in which they analyze plausible factors behind a given difference in health between two regions or countries. The module is part of the Minor Population Studies.

Spatial Planning: The Urban Challenge (5 EC) This course, Spatial Planning: urban challenge, exposes learners to theories, concepts and multimedia techniques to understand the social, economic, political and environmental characteristics of cities and consequently how forms of intervention by planners relate to the history, evolution and processes within urban areas. Omschrijving On completion of the course learners will be able to: (1) Reproduce central ideas on urban theories and concepts from the Chicago School of Sociology, the LA School of Urbanism and a range of contemporary debates within urban geography, urban planning and urban studies; (2) Situate these tools for urban analysis in the evolution of urban planning interventions, from ancient and pre-modern models to the negotiation of competing interests in plural societies and paying attention to the utopian modernists

Frederick Law Olmsted, Ebenezer Howard, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as more contemporary New Urbanism; (3) Explore these new insights on urban planning in groups via a variety of multimedia to deepen understanding and to relate to urban cases of the learners choosing; (4) Adapt their prior knowledge about cities and expectations of the course to reconceptualize cities as assemblages of social, economic, political and environmental processes via the posing of fresh research questions and the integration of sub-assignments into a final group assignment; and (5) Demonstrate their critical capacities and enthusiasm for cities across the globe via integration of all preceding activities and insights.

People and place

By the end of this course, it is intended that students will: have an understanding/empathy of the concept of place at a personal level have an appreciation of the importance of place as theoretical concept have an awareness of the relevance of the concept of place in planning, policy making and other practical applications be able to critically engage with the concept of place and be aware of how it is appropriated by different actors in different contexts. Omschrijving By the end of this course, students should be able to: describe how they personally relate to the concept of place and be able to discuss their understanding of the sense of place of various groups in society around the world define and utilise the key concepts used in conjunction with place describe, critique and compare a range of theories pertaining to place explain how the topic of place is relevant in fields such as: urban and regional planning, architecture and building design, social welfare, and the development of large projects discuss the negative aspects of place (as well as the positive), and describe situations where place has been appropriated by various groups.

Overview Place is perhaps the most fundamental concept of cultural geography. Further, a sense of place is an essential aspect of being human, although individuals relate to the concept in different ways. This course will explore the significance of place and place-making from a cultural geographical perspective. The aim of the course is to create a realization of the practical relevance of the concept to ourselves as individuals and also to our (future) professional lives as geographers, planners and social researchers. The learning experience will be facilitated by having people with passion for place talk about their understandings in lectures. Extensive reading will be expected, and self reflection is encouraged.

 Spatial Planning Group Project

Introduction Students who have taken the course "Spatial Problems and Spatial Policies: The Dutch Experience", can participate in a "Spatial Planning Group Project" (SPGP) offered by the Internatonal School of Spatial Policy Studies of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences. A "Spatial Planning Group Project" has a credit load of 5 ECTS, which equals 140 hours of study; Group Projects are offered in the first 6 weeks of semester 1-b (mid November until Chrismas) and the first 8 weeks of semester 2-b (mid April to mid June). A Group Project is typically undertaken by 4 or 5 students from various countries. Topics and Research Process Topics for "Spatial Planning Group Projects" can be suggested by participants. Accepted exchange students can submit possible group project topics to the International School coordinator before the start of the course. In the weeks preceding semesters 1-b and 2-b, meetings will be held to discuss proposed topics and form groups. The International School coordinator will reflect on the topics proposed, taking into consideration factors such as the availability of a supervisor (from the staff of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences), the potential existence of language barriers, the size and diversity of the group and other relevant issues. Other course information

Group members are required to attend all work-in-progress meetings. These meetings will take place once or twice a week with the group supervisor. In the first part of the SPGP, these work-in-progress meetings are aimed at developing an academic research proposal, which positions the research topic in it's relevant theoretical context and which clearly presents the research goal, research questions and research design. In the second part of the SPGP, the work-inprogress meetings aim to support the data collection. In the last part of the SPGP, the meetings will be used to discuss the draft end report and finally the final version of the end report. The SPGP course is supported by a small number of lectures at the beginning that aim to instruct students on research design and research methods. The format for the Spatial Planning Group Project (SPGP) is 5 EC, which translates into 140 hours of participation per member. In the 6 week run in semester 1-b, this translates into 3 full days of 8 hours per day per group member. In the 8 week run in semester 2-b, this translates into just over 2 full days per week per group member. Group projects must be finished before the end of the semester-part in which they have started. Each SPGP will lead to a written report, constructed and presented according to standard academic rules. The individual contributions of group members should be identifiable by explicitly including the name of the author(s) for each section. Any costs (e.g., travel costs, photocopy costs) involved in the execution of the SPGP are considered to be normal course-related costs which must be paid for by the participants of that group.

SPGPs are only open to exchange students visiting the Faculty of Spatial Sciences that have completed the course 'Spatial Problems and Spatial Policies'.

Reinventing environmental planning

The aim of the course is to provide students with theories and concepts to critically reflect on recent changes towards more proactive and integrated approaches in various fields of environmental planning (such as energy, urban development, air policy, nature and climate change). They will understand the potentials and pitfalls of existing and of recently emerging policy approaches and will understand the contextual conditions influencing these potentials and pitfalls. Based on this understanding, students are able to make well-argued choices between different planning strategies and measures when faced with different environmental issues and circumstances. In doing so, they are able to use substantive information about environmental issues that they acquired during the course on several of the main environmental challenges that our 21st century societies face The course discusses recent changes in the field of environmental planning related to the emergence of sustainable development as a prime governance guideline. The course explains how sustainable development challenges the reliance on reactive and regulatory based policies that have long been common in environmental planning in many countries. Sustainable development is presented as a call for more proactive policies that integrate environmental concerns in overall governance activities. These calls for governance renewal are connected to wider shifts in both planning theory and practice, away from command and control policies towards a richer variety of policy approaches, inspired by for example market processes, public and private partnerships, communicative rationality and multi-level governance. While discussing recent changes in environmental planning, students are invited and stimulated to develop a critical and constructive attitude, while drawing from a post-contingency perspective that helps them identify and analyse various theoretical arguments and doubts regarding these changes. Students will subsequently be shown detailed examples of changes in environmental planning, related to five dominant environmental issues: urban development, nature and biodiversity, climate change, air pollution and energy. Through assignments, students will have to show they can critically discuss recent renewal operations, while focussing on a practical example of governance renewal in relation to one of the five dominant environmental issues discussed. Finally, they will be invited to critically reflect on the recent changes in environmental planning to be tested during a written exam.

 Transitions in water management

The aim of this course is to provide students with theories and concepts to describe and explain current water management issues, and related water management transitions. The course focuses in particular on the management of open water bodies or surface water in delta areas where rivers and coastal areas come together. After following this course, students are able to suggest and develop possible water management strategies and measures to manage water transitions. Due to urbanisation and the potential impacts of climate change, water management is high on the international political and societal agenda. Worldwide, the need is recognized to develop strategies and measures to adapt land use to the already occurring effects of climate change, and to develop approaches for the integration of water management and spatial planning in low-lying urban deltas. The development and implementation of these approaches is however not an easy task, as they often involve a substantive and/or governance transition in water management. Drawing on a theoretical exploration of the nature of transitions and the way in which transitions can be managed, the course focuses on identifying current transitions in water management in relation to climate change, and on discussing issues and dilemmas in the attempts to manage these water transitions. The course assumes two main water management foci: coastal management and river management. For each of the blocks, besides transitions, cases and strategies, also basic knowledge about how the water system works will be presented (what events can be expected in the future, such as the potential impacts of climate change, what and where are the risks etc). Through assignments, students will develop the capacity to suggest practical strategies and possibilities for water transition management for specific planning situations.

Independent research project (part 1 and 2) (part 1) - A supervised research project on a specific theme in the field of urban / environmental / transportation planning, architecture and design. The topic will be decided upon in Nov/Dec 2013 project (part 2). Late June or early July, a mini-symposium will be organised where participants present the results of their research projects.