GUIDANCE REPORT. Teaching integrated planning and design for coastal landscapes in Europe by exploring digital dimensions of transnational collaboration in higher education

This guidance report aims at supporting teachers and other interested parties in developing and innovating programmes for integrated spatial planning. The focus is on coastal landscapes, but the methods and techniques are also applicable to other subject areas. This report has been developed within the framework of the CO-LAND Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership. The CO-LAND Toolbox, added as an online supplement, is intended to enhance the use of e-learning and to support the practical implementation of an online course. It compares different platforms and instruments, provides online tools, links, video clips etc. and is freely available as open access at the CO-LAND wiki. This report divides into three major parts; the why, the what and the how of the CO-LAND project Part A describes the innovative teaching approach and methodology applied and further developed during the project. Chapter 2 contains the six dimensions of curriculum innovation, such as bridging the scales of planning, integrating academic disciplines, and including community and stakeholder perspectives. Chapter 3 highlights the underlying theories and teaching methods for integrated planning and design; the concept of landscape, educational constructivism, competences for sustainable development, the integrated planning and design framework and the principles of blended learning. Part B explains the relevance of coastal areas for current global developments related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Chapter 4) and their suitability as a study and research issue for planning and design disciplines, illustrated by the examples of the Sand Motor and the BlueHealth project (Chapter 5). Moreover, it shows the subject-specific, methodical, (inter)personal and generic competences and learning outcomes that form the basis of the curriculum. It presents the topics, exercises and references to the main lectures of the online course. It concludes with the outline of the integrated CO-LAND Case Study Assignment that students carry out through all phases of the online course (Chapter 6). Part C focuses on the implementation and dissemination process. Showing the practical steps based on the CO-LAND experiences, it describes how to set-up a blended learning project, presenting the elements of the online area and modes of student participation and the assessment strategy (Chapter 7). Chapter 8 presents the organisation of on-site workshops, with the selection of stakeholders, a preparatory visit, and schedule of the intensive programme. The fourth workshop presents a blended form that was able to deal with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The process of monitoring and evaluation for quality management is explained in a process chart and an overview of the quality objectives and indicators. Examples of the results of the survey of students give an impression of the outcomes (Chapter 9). Chapter 10 presents the dissemination of the project: the objectives, target groups, methodology and actions for communication and sharing the results. An online multiplier event forms part of it. The report concludes with the findings of the project and summarises recommendations for university teaching. The main recommendations are to improve the interactive learning platforms to allow for increased possibilities of participatory or collaborative design and more frequent iterative feedback to learners. In addition, one should be prepared to organise Intensive Student Programmes and workshops in a way that a blended form of on-site and online work can create a productive learning and working environment

Functional characterization of sensory rhodopsin II from Halobacterium salinarum expressed in Escherichia coli

Sensory rhodopsin II (SRII) from Halobacterium salinarum is heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli with a yield of 3-4 mg of purified SRII per liter cell culture. UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy display bands characteristic for native SRII. The resonance Raman spectrum provides evidence for a strongly hydrogen-bonded Schiff base like in mammalian rhodopsin but unlike to the homologous pSRII from Natronobacterium pharaonis. Laser flash spectroscopy indicates that SRII in detergent as well as after reconstitution into polar lipids shows its typical photochemical properties with prolonged photocycle kinetics. The first functional heterologous expression of SRII from H. salinarum provides the basis for studies with its cognate transducer HtrII to investigate the molecular processes involved in phototransduction as well as in chemotransduction