Educating planners in Europe: A review of 21st century study programmes

A  Education for urban, regional and spatial planning has become a regular subject throughout most European nations; this can be attributed in part to European policies promoting planning and spatially balanced development, but also to the recognition that planning can support sustainability. Nevertheless, there is lingering and justifiable concern about the status, profile and recognition of planning as a profession in its own right with the result that planning and planning education remain contested territories in academia. Conceptions of planning differ between countries and over time. The array of different planning cultures and associated educational models and pedagogies that traditionally have coexisted in Europe mean that education for planning can be either very visible or leading a shadow existence being embedded in programmes of other disciplines. While planning education provision customarily has been shaped by changes in planning practice paradigms and the profession, in 21st century Europe the provision is also influenced by European integration policies, the Bologna process and powerful transformations affecting the higher education sector writ large. This review seeks to advance our understanding of the complex dynamics at work, which to date have been only partially explored in the literature, by taking stock of the current state-of-play of planning education provision in Europe. Aside from examining the factors influencing planning education in Europe, an inventory of planning education programmes available throughout the member states of the Council of Europe was developed to quantify the provision as a critical first step. Figures indicate a substantial increase in the number of programmes when compared to limited historical data. Data also suggest an underdeveloped provision for education in planning in about ten per cent of European countries. Country case studies with historically differing planning cultures and education provision, i.e., Spain, Portugal, Finland, Poland, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are used to compare and explore trends and developments (e.g., in respect to programme structure, curriculum content and focus, professional conceptions, specialisms) in detail. Findings demonstrate, both, an enduring power of national preferences and traditions but also some emerging commonalities. Overall a picture of increasing pluralism and diversity of education models transpires in the aftermath of Bologna which may contravene efforts to establish cross-national professional recognition and standards. Education for planning seems to embrace trends to provide increasingly international learning experiences and degrees while the provision of flexible recognised (online) degree programmes remains sparse. Recommendations for future actions and strategies to further develop and strengthen the field which is at present complex and little coordinated conclude the contribution

Is This Distance Teaching Planning That Bad?

In spring 2020, university courses were moved into the virtual space due to the Covid-19 lockdown. In this paper, we use experience from courses at Gdańsk University of Technology and ETH Zurich to identify core problems in distance teaching planning and to discuss what to do and what not to do in teaching planning after the pandemic. We conclude that we will not return to the state of (teaching) affairs that we had previously. The availability of recordings of lectures and videos, de-localisation of both students and teachers, the experience of spatio-temporal autonomy will lead to new forms of teaching as both students and teachers experienced some aspects of remote teaching even more efficient than real-world teaching. On the other hand, remote teaching of elements of learning that required interaction, e.g. group and studio work, brainstorming, discussion to foster critical thinking, cannot replace the real experience of the classroom.ISSN:0251-3625ISSN:2166-860

Internationalisation by travel? An evaluation of an experimental planning degree

Providing some international experiences and developing students’ international, cross-cultural competencies has been on the agenda of higher education providers for a number of decades. Especially in Europe the establishment of a common European labour market and the 1999 Bologna agreement as stimulated a steady increase in the levels of cross-border mobility by professionals, students and academics. Higher education institutions are encouraged to participate in exchanges and inter-institutional collaboration agreements based on EU programmes such as Socrates and Erasmus. Planning schools have actively contributed to a host of innovations in respect to internationalising the student experience such as joint projects with students from different nations participating to joint diplomas/degree programmes. This paper critically assesses the student learning experience of a pilot master degree that takes internationalisation to an extreme level: Brandenburgische Technische Universität's Cottbus (BTU) Studium Generale (so called "ReiseUni”) degree. First, we will briefly describe the programme structure in which students travel and study at 8 different universities over a two year period. Underlying philosophy and aims of the programme are contrasted with reactions from students and staff involved in the pilot. The programme represents an entirely different approach to studying in a globalising world drastically decreasing the importance of a home institution. The authors will examine whether this may represent a valid model for the future in terms of providing meaningful economic and academic pedagogical framework for higher education

Planning education in Poland: case study prepared for Planning Sustainable Cities: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009

This case study examines the state of planning education provision in post-perestroika Poland, a central European state with a population of 38.1 million 2006 Census) and covering an area of 312,679 square kilometres

Accreditation and quality assurance for professional degree programmes:Comparing approaches in three European countries

Over the last two decades, considerable progress has been made in establishing and implementing robust, comparable quality assurance processes throughout much of the European higher education sector. However, concerns persist over degree portability and recognition as current systems are rooted in national contexts. In particular, specialised accreditation for professional degrees is ill-understood cross-nationally. This study explores approaches and practices in quality assurance and accreditation for professional degrees using the example of urban, regional and spatial planning. Schemes in the UK, Poland and Germany reveal considerable variation in stakeholder influence and involvement of the profession in accreditation. Closer alignment of curricula with professional standards seems to increase practice-relevance and recognition nationally but not necessarily degree portability within Europe. International or pan-European professional accreditation would therefore be desirable but remains so far elusive

Accreditation and quality assurance of planning education in Europe – Comparing approaches in Germany, Poland and Great Britain

In the context of globalisation, the competition amongst higher education institutions and programmes is increasing constantly. Thus, the accreditation of programmes as a means to signify certain levels of quality and the existence of quality assurance procedures is gaining growing prominence at institutional level. Moreover, in the European context, signatory countries agreed to develop and implement quality assurance processes of European dimension as part of the Bologna process and associated reforms of higher education. To date, there is no specific guidance on how such European-wide recognisable accreditation and quality assurance should be designed and implemented. Indeed, a number of different approaches to programme accreditation and quality assurance coexist in Europe. This paper will first explore the different definitions and interpretations of programme accreditation and quality assurance in the context of planning education. Second, we will compare the different approaches currently in place in Poland, Germany and the United Kingdom. These case studies are representative of three different models: – Programme accreditation through the national government (Poland) – Programme accreditation through the professional body (Great Britain) – Programme accreditation through independent agencies (Germany). Following on from this we will discuss the respective advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses of these models using a generic framework of quality control criteria and quality assurance theory. In conclusion we draw some lessons, which may be of value to nations and institutions seeking to develop a system of programme accreditation and quality assurance or review existing processes in place with an aim to enhance practice. Future research may explore further alternative models found elsewhere in the world in an attempt to document practices more comprehensively