Master Programme in European Spatial Planning and Regional Development

Profile - General Content

The importance of the European Union within the fields of planning and regional development has increased. The European Spatial Planning and Regional Development programme is a problem-based education covering fundamental subjects of European spatial planning and regional development, such as governance, innovation, economic development and sustainable development. The programme rests on two, interconnected pillars within the field of European spatial planning and regional development: economic, social and territorial cohesion as well as sustainable development. These two pillars reflect the policy and practice of the European level in the courses and the structure of the programme.
The focus of the programme is on the European level and on skills and abilities that are applicable and useful in professional live: the programme will give you experience of practical tools as well as policies and regulations. You will also become familiar with several European planning and development projects and get the chance to analyse and formulate concrete proposals the aim of which is to foster the development of a region.
The programme is in English and for students from Sweden, Europe and the rest of the world. Education and tuition has a high priority and students and faculty have a close connection in an informal atmosphere throughout their educational period. In addition to qualified teachers and professors, you will encounter many international guest lecturers, such as Andreas Faludi and Stefanie Dühr, and individuals working within planning and regional development. This means that the connections to professional practice and to the latest research are good.

Qualification Awarded

Degree of Master of Science (120 ECTS credits)
Main field of study: Spatial Planning

Prerequisites

At least a Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a minimum of 180 new Swedish credits (''högskolepoäng'')/180 ECTS (= three years) of study, in a technical, social sciences or natural sciences field that is relevant to European spatial planning and regional development.

or - At least a Bachelor's degree of 180 higher education credits and two years of documented work experience, amounting to at least 50 per cent of a full-time employment, of relevance for the education. Relevant work experience is defined as employment or profession where a significant part of the tasks have been investigative tasks, analytical tasks, research or education, dealing with comprehensive planning, development or regional issues, alternatively European issues.

In addition you have to fulfill the following English language requirements:

Applicants with international qualifications who do not have English as their native language:
Specific eligibility in the English language from upper secondary school for non-Swedish students:
TOEFL 575/90; IELTS 6.5 no section below 5.5, or University of Cambrige and Oxford tests. Detailed information is available on www.universityadmissions.se

Read about general admission requirements for second cycle.

Admission Criteria

1 General method

GENERAL
This method is simple and possesses a high degree of legitimacy and legal security. It works well when the applicants are expected to have similar educational backgrounds.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Prior education.

SPECIFICATION OF SELECTION CRITERIA
Only the number of completed higher education credits documented by the applicant in conjunc-tion with the application will be considered. Foreign credits will be transferred according to the guidelines established by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education.

HIGHEST TARIFF
The tariff consists of the total number of completed higher education credits and is calculated in the interval 30 - 285 higher education credits.

WORKING METHOD
The selection can, to a large degree, be carried out mechanically. If all applicants with the lowest equal tariff cannot be offered a place, lots will be drawn.

Admission Procedure

Read about the admission procedure.

Recognition of prior studies and studies abroad

Student who has been admitted to the programme and has earlier completed a course that corresponds to a course within the programme, can apply for recognition of prior studies. If possible, the student will be offered admission to an alternative course. Studies abroad within the programme can normally be partly or fully recognised. In these cases a decision is made via the Learning Agreement, prior the study period.

Read more about studying abroad.

Practical Information

Practical information is found under 'Prospective students'.

Profile - General Content

The importance of the European Union within the fields of planning and regional development has increased. The European Spatial Planning and Regional Development programme is a problem-based education covering fundamental subjects of European spatial planning and regional development, such as governance, innovation, economic development and sustainable development. The programme rests on two, interconnected pillars within the field of European spatial planning and regional development: economic, social and territorial cohesion as well as sustainable development. These two pillars reflect the policy and practice of the European level in the courses and the structure of the programme.
The focus of the programme is on the European level and on skills and abilities that are applicable and useful in professional live: the programme will give you experience of practical tools as well as policies and regulations. You will also become familiar with several European planning and development projects and get the chance to analyse and formulate concrete proposals the aim of which is to foster the development of a region.
The programme is in English and for students from Sweden, Europe and the rest of the world. Education and tuition has a high priority and students and faculty have a close connection in an informal atmosphere throughout their educational period. In addition to qualified teachers and professors, you will encounter many international guest lecturers, such as Andreas Faludi and Stefanie Dühr, and individuals working within planning and regional development. This means that the connections to professional practice and to the latest research are good.

Learning outcomes

In addition to the national goals, which can be found in Appendix B, the following goals apply to this programme.

After successfully completing the programme, the student should:

• be able the show specialised knowledge about planning and regional development on the wider European level as well as in individual European countries and regions.

• Be able to critically and systematically apply the theoretical knowledge in describing current European planning problems and designing proposals addressing these problems

• be able to integrate knowledge and analyse how national and European policy influences planning and regional development on several levels.

• Be able to analyse how the national and European planning affects the regional developments in Europe.

• Be able to conduct independently a problem-based analysis within the field of European spatial planning and regional development.

• be able to demonstrate an insight regarding the possibilities and limitations of planning within the subject area and in continued professional practice.

• master critical analysis of planning documents.

Mode of delivery

The programme is teaching intensive with an average of 3-4 lectures per week. Responsible for teaching are professors with research experience in the relevant areas. Furthermore, the courses include a number of seminars which give the students the opportunity to deepen their knowledge in specific areas; in addition, the students will have the opportunity to apply the acquired knowledge in a number of exercises or assignments.

The first two semesters contain seven compulsory courses. For the third seminar, the students can freely choose courses either at BTH or at another university. The fourth semester is entirely dedicated to thesis writing.
Courses autumn term 2012
European Integration 10 ECTS
The aim of the course is to give a historical and theoretical overview of the European integration process, and to provide insights on the EU’s institutional structure, and give an overview of EU’s role in planning related issues.
Planned lectures:
1. EU- from idea to reality
2. The integration process - progress, backlashes and surprises
3. EU’s institutional structure
4. The economic integration process - from a free market to a monetary union
5. The enlargement process: principles and practices
6. Regions in the EU
7. The Territorial Agenda 2020
8. European integration and spatial planning
9. The European Spatial Development Perspective
10. Territorial cohesion and the European model of society
11. European social models
12. EU budget and finances
13. How to understand the integration process - theoretical perspectives
14. How to understand the integration process - a historical perspective

European Cohesion and Spatial Planning 10 ECTS
The aim of the course is to provide students with the theoretical background that lays the ground for EU’s actions within regional planning and development, as well as to deepen their knowledge on how these perspectives affect the addressed problem areas.
Planned lectures:
1. Two paradigms in regional policy
2. EU: from regional policy to cohesion policy
3. European spatial planning - the arguments
4. Key issues in European spatial planning
5. Ireland: The role model for regional growth policy in EU
6. Spatial strategies. The alternative to regional growth policy
7. Territorial cohesion and territorial cohesion policy
8. The importance of polycentricity
9. The urban-rural relationship
10. The Lisbon strategy: High thoughts and little work
11. Manufacturing belts - the declining centres
12. Industrial districts - the threatened periphery
13. Learning regions - the dynamic periphery
14. Mewtropolitan regions - diversified centres
15. Creative and innovative regions: EU’s new dream
16. Building competitive regions

Sustainable development 10 ECTS
The aim of the course is to provide students with knowledge on the concept of sustainable development and how sustainability concerns are integrated or are conflicting with other policy areas.
Planned lectures:
1. The concept of sustainable development
2. EU’s sustainability strategies
3. Resiliance and sustainable development
4. Spatial forms of peak everything
5. EU environmental policies. Integrating environment with soci-economic development.
6. European environmental policy and spatial planning Part 1
7. European environmental policy and spatial planning Part 2
8. Climate change and sustainable energy systems
9. Strategic environmental assessment
10. Five minds for sustainability
11. European sustainabilty scenarios
12. Conflicts of EU sector policy and sustainability - CAP
13. Conflicts of EU sector policy and sustainability. - Energy
14. Conflicts of EU sector policy and sustainability.- Transport

Courses spring term 2013

Research Methods 5 ECTS
The aim of the course is to give students knowledge on research methodology. Beside lectures and seminars, a number of workshops will be carried out giving students the opportunity to work with concrete questions and methods which they will later apply in their thesis writing.
Planned lectures:
1. Natural sciences, social sciences and the study of society
2. Alternative research approaches. Part 1
3. Alternative research approaches. Part 2
4. Scientific method and design processes
5. Scientific methods - quantitative methods
6. Scientific methods - qualitative methods

Innovative regions - theory and practice 10 ECTS
The aim of the course is to give students knowledge on the role of innovation for economic development and factors that foster innovation in regions. During seminars, students will closely analyse a number of “innovative” regions to get an understanding of the concept of “innovative regions”. This will help students to understand that innovative regions differ according to their characteristics and sources to their innovative capacity.
Planned lectures:
1. From the Lisbon Agenda to the Innovation Union
2. The innovation perspective
3. The geography of innovation
4. The importance of history
5. The role of institutions
6. The role of entrepreneurs
7. The importance of life style
8. The role of universities
9. The role of social capital
10. The Role of Public Policy
11. What makes a region innovative?

Regional disparities - theory and practice 10 ECTS
The aim of the course is to give students knowledge that will allow them to apply different theoretical perspectives when analysing regional development and regional unbalances. The aim of the lectures is to present, analyse and discuss different theoretical perspectives, followed by seminars which will give the students the opportunity to apply the different perspectives in studying several selected European regions.
Planned lectures:
1. Regional disparities and regional problems in Europé
2. The territorial approach
3. The macro economic approach
4. The modernisation approach
5. The regional approach
6. The business approach
7. The sociological approach
8. Policy implications of the different approaches
9. The planning approach
10. Paradigms in regional policy
11. The dynamics of regional problems

European cohesion policy 5 ECTS
The aim of the course is to present different theoretical approaches to the European cohesion policy, but also knowledge on how these approaches are transformed into concrete policies. During the seminars, the students analyse how this cohesion policy is politically shaped and how it effects some of the EU Member States.
1. The impact of regional policy - what tells history
2. Two policy approaches - problem-based and territorial based policy
3. The concept of cohesion
4. The evolution of cohesion policy
5. The cohesion policy in practice
6. The programme approach
7. The impact of cohesion policy


Courses autumn term 2013
For the third seminar, the students can freely choose courses either at BTH or at another university.
Written Work
The programme ends with a written exam project (thesis) corresponding to 30 hp.
Written Work
The programme ends with a written exam project (thesis) corresponding to 30 hp.

NOTE! It is the start term of the course that is stated below. See each course to find out the actual length of the course.

Written Work

International element

Read about study abroad
Assessment and grading
Assessment and grading vary between the courses in the programme. Information can be found for each course
Programme Evaluations
The programme is evaluated by students annually and each term. The courses on the programme are also evaluated separately after the end of each course.
The students input is used to improve the programme.
In summary, the most recent evaluation shows that students are satisfied with the programme. The personal approach and close contact with staff and teachers and the cohesion and community of the small student group are particularly seen as positive. Students ask for further academic and social contacts with other students at the School.

Read about study abroad

Job Profiles

Further Studies

Programme Advisory Board

The programme has a Programme Advisory Board to ensure that the graduates’ employability is high for the targeted job market.
The Programme Advisory Board consists of representatives of students, alumni and teachers as well as external representative(s).
The Programme Advisory Board meets 2 times per year.
Contact person for the Programme Advisory Board is: Abdellah Abarkan