Education

The European Module on Spatial Development Planning is an intensive post-graduate programme offered at the KU Leuven to students, researchers and practitioners who share a planning philosophy oriented to serve progress in society. The Module adopts a pluralist approach, both in analytical focus and planning methodology, but is strongly anchored to principles of equity and sustainability.

The programme provides structured teaching, a series of self-standing seminars, and personalised tutoring on ongoing research. It has a duration of three months (from the beginning of March to the end of May) and presupposes residency in order to ensure the required intensive attendance. It is a unique opportunity to deepen or refresh the participants' academic and empirical knowledge and to enhance their ongoing research. The programme is organised by the Faculty of Engineering in association with the ESDP network.

The programme is organised by Faculty of Engineering Technology
in collaboration with ESDP Network (20 partners across Europe)

Url of the programme
http://www.esdp-network.eu/EM-info.php

Duration of the programme
The course has a duration of three months, from the beginning of March to the end of May of each Academic Year. It involves full-time attendance and, therefore, presupposes students' residency.
Attending students will, thus, need to find a temporary accommodation in the area (see section on Information below).

Location
Heverlee, Arenberg Campus, De Molen

Registration fee
1 750 euro

Registration procedure
In order to obtain the full 'EMSDP Post-Graduate Certificate' (fee is required) they have to follow the procedure for 'degree seeking'

Profile

The EMSDP is designed as an intensive training opportunity for two types of participants:
- Students in regular post-graduate university programmes (Ph.D. and II level Master) and other academic fellows (Post-Doctoral and Research fellows) working on their dissertations or engaged in some research project.
- Practitioners (professionals and civil servants) who wish to refresh and/or deepen the skills acquired in previous studies and professional practice and to improve their research capabilities.

Given the interdisciplinary nature of its content and approach, the programme is open to people from different backgrounds - economics, sociology, geography, spatial planning and design, environmental studies, political sciences and other disciplines related with urban and regional studies.

In case the number of applicants would exceed the maximum of admitted participants (max. 20 students), the criteria for this selection are:
- Quality and appropriateness of the applicants' research proposal.
- Capacity to manage general competences at an advanced level
- Scientific way of thinking and capacity to deal with complex problems

Capacity to contribute actively to processes of knowledge production.
Attitude to crosscut disciplines and scientific theories
Ability to communicate their research questions and early findings
Ethics and good predisposition to work in a multicultural and multi ethnic environment.

Objectives

The EMSDP is an integrated advanced teaching programme for post-graduate students, researchers and practitioners in spatial planning.

The main goal is to explore the main contemporary challenges of spatial transformation processes and dynamics and the way several disciplines are providing interdisciplinary insights in addressing spatial issues. Due to the wide cooperation with international academic partners, the EMSDP is tightly related to the ongoing international debate and reasearch activities. At the same time, it keeps an eye to the past in order to understand disciplinary evolutions and the way spatial dynamics have been addressed.

Based on three forms of training (structured lectures, self-standing presentations and an interactive post-graduate research seminar), the EMSDP provides the students with the capacity of addressing spatial development and planning issues - including urban and regional plan-making, programmes and policies - with a complex interdisciplinary perspective that lies at the crossroads of several disciplines: economics, sociology, spatial planning, geography, political science, urbanism, etc.
Throughout the course three types of dialectics are stressed and possibly reconciled: between development and planning, between theory and practice and between planning and policy approaches.
In such integrated learning context, students are asked to enhance their capacity in deepening the theoretical debate in various disciplines and to improve their capacity to relate methodological aspects to their theoretical framework, interacting among themselves and with the staff members.

Even though the main concern is about European planning theory and practice, the EMSDP pays considerable attention to comparisons with regions and cities outside Europe.

The programme has a clear ethical outlook: the planning philosophy shared by the staff is oriented to serve progress in society, based on principles of equity, social innovation and sustainability. Of course, the adoption of the above approach and principles still allows for a wide pluralism in analytical focus and planning methodology.

Spotlight

In 2011 the EMSDP has obtained the AESOP-Association of European Schools of Planning Prize for teaching excellence (see details at: http://www.aesop-planning.eu/news/en_GB/2011/07/09/readabout/aesop-ex cellence-in-teaching-prize-2011)

Contact

Faculty of Engineering Science
Programme director
Prof dr. Ir. B. De Meulder
Contact
Maura Slootmaekers
tel. + 32 16 32 13 91
fax + 32 16 32 19 81
Administrative office
Kasteelpark Arenberg 1 bus 2200
3001 HEVERLEE
tel. + 32 16 32 13 50
fax + 32 16 32 19 82
info@eng.kuleuven.be
www.eng.kuleuven.be

General information
Study Advice Service
Naamsestraat 80 box 5415
3000 LEUVEN, Belgium
To contact us please complete the contact form on our website.

Download this brochure

Flyer and handbook can be downloaded from
http://www.esdp-network.eu/EM-info.php