Postgraduate Certificate: International Module in Spatial Development Planning (Leuven)
The International Module in Spatial Development Planning is an interactive PhD training moment in which PhD and research master students present and discuss their research with leading academics from all over the world. The presentation and discussion moments are supported by lectures on the role of theory and methodology in planning research and practice. The IMSDP, previously known as EMSDP, is an AESOP certified programme.
Education
What is the Postgraduate International Module Spatial Delevopment Planning all about?
The International Module in Spatial Development Planning is an intensive post-graduate programme offered at the KU Leuven to students, researchers and practitioners from across the world who share a philosophy on planning, territorial development and social innovation that is oriented to serve progress in society. The module extensively draws from the social sciences in the broadest sense, adopts a pluralist approach, both in analytical focus and planning methodology, and is strongly anchored to principles of equity, social innovation and sustainability.
The programme provides structured teaching, a series of research seminars and personalised tutoring on ongoing research. For the participants, it is a unique opportunity to deepen or refresh their academic and practical knowledge and to enhance their ongoing research.
URL of the programme
http://esdp-network.net/the-imsdp-overview
The programme is organised by
Faculty of Engineering Sciences of KU Leuven, the Planning & Development (P&D) Research unit at the Department of Architecture
The Didactical offer also benefits from additional inputs by various KU Leuven faculty members: the Faculty of Engineering Sciences, the Faculty of Architecture, the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Social Sciences:
In cooperation with
European Spatial Development Planning network (ESDP), which consists of almost 30 university partners across Europe and the world, framed by the ERASMUS exchange programme. Leading scholars in different fields that are part of the network provide most of the teaching contributions.
Structure
The IMSDP combines teaching and seminar activities.
The teaching activities are structured along three modules:
1. Socio-economic Development in Space (8 ECTS);
2. Planning Theory and Practice (8 ECTS);
3. Emblematic Planning Experiences in a Comparative Perspective (8 ECTS).
The first module lays the common conceptual basis of the debate concerning socio-economic development in space and sets the broad analytical framework for the subsequent teaching contributions. The second module makes students acquainted with the main traditions, theories and approaches of spatial planning, territorial development and social innovation. It discusses the diverse dimensions of spatial development analysis and planning, which has become a matter of integrating complex agendas – through spatial strategy making – and democratic consultation as well as decision-making. The third module focuses on the methodological dimension of research agendas, linking concepts and approaches deployed in the other modules and providing a comprehensive methodological synthesis for comparative analysis. The case studies presented in this module are selected from different countries and have different spatial scales and issues, showing the analytical building blocks presented at the beginning of the module.
Parallel to the lectures and case-study presentations, research seminar activities pay particular attention to the development of the students’ research capacity. All participants to the IMSDP present their individual research work and its progress (6 ECTS) at least twice over the duration of the programme, to both peer participants and an international panel of tutors from the partner universities.
Spotlight
Since only a small group of students can enter the programme, they have the opportunity to closely interact with top professors from around the world, who share the same critical philosophy and ethics. This interaction addresses the main contemporary challenges of spatial transformation processes and dynamics, as well as the way several disciplines can provide interdisciplinary insights in tackling spatial issues. Thanks to the wide international cooperation, the IMSDP is tightly related to the ongoing international debate and research 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.
The IMSDP, previously known as EMSDP, received the AESOP Excellence in Teaching Prize in 2016.
Duration of the programme
The course lasts 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. At their request, students can stay an additional month to do tutored research at the P&D Research Unit.
Location
Leuven (Heverlee), KU Leuven Arenberg Campus, CIT building (Willem De Croylaan, behind Arenberg Library).
Registration fee
Registration procedure
The deadline for application through the preselection procedure is November 23rd of each year.
The IMSDP is open to:
Candidates should contact: Pieter Van den Broeck and Carine Assaf.
Candidates in ESDP partner universities should first get in touch and be cleared by their university contact person. After that, they should contact: Pieter Van den Broeck and Carine Assaf.
When applying, all candidates should include the following attachments:
After selection, candidates will receive instructions for official registration.
Specifications
1 Prerequisites for the Degree-seeking: The degree requires the payment of a fee and the positive evaluation of the assignment for each of the 3 modules of the IMSDP.
2 Prerequisites for KU Leuven students: Students are already registered as PhD students according to KU Leuven regulations.
3 Prerequisites for partner university’s students: Students are already registered according to the partner university’s regulations.
4 Preselection procedure: Students need to be selected and receive permission to register from the IMSDP coordinator. They should send an email with motivation letter, research abstract and CV to Pieter Van den Broeck, Angeliki Paidakaki and Carine Assaf. The deadline for this application is December 10th of each year. Students will receive an answer on December 20th.
5 Procedure for Erasmus exchange students: After acceptance by the IMSDP coordinator, students from partner universities need to follow the KU Leuven registration procedure for Erasmus exchange students, detailed at this link. The application should mention: “Erasmus exchange student - Faculty of Engineering Science”.
Caution: Please do not take into account the deadlines mentioned on the indicated webpage – they are for standard courses that take place during the entire semester time span.
6 Procedure for IMSDP Post-graduate students: After acceptance by the IMSDP coordinator, students seeking the KU Leuven diploma for the Postgraduate IMSDP need to follow the KU Leuven registration procedure for ‘degree seeking’ detailed at the following link: http://www.kuleuven.be/english/application/instructions
Profile
The IMSDP 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 working on their dissertations or engaged in some research project.
- Practitioners (professionals, civil servants, activists) who wish to refresh and/or deepen the skills acquired in previous studies and 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, anthropology, social work, geography, spatial planning and design, environmental studies, political sciences and other disciplines involved in urban and regional studies. Practitioners in spatial planning and design, environmental planning, urban and regional planning and community development are very welcome.
The maximum number of admitted participants is 24. Criteria for selection are:
- quality and appropriateness of the applicants' research topic
- capacity to manage general competences at an advanced level
- capacity to reflect on professional experience from the perspective of theory and ethics
- scientific way of thinking and capacity to deal with complex problems
- capacity to contribute interactively to processes of knowledge production
- attitude to crosscut disciplines and scientific theories
- ability to communicate research questions and early findings
- ethics and good predisposition to work in a multicultural and multi ethnic environment.
Objectives
The IMSDP is an integrated advanced teaching programme for post-graduate students, researchers and practitioners in spatial planning.The main goal is to explore spatial transformation processes and the way several disciplines are providing interdisciplinary insights into spatial issues. Due to the wide cooperation with international academic partners, the IMSDP is tightly related to the ongoing international debates and research activities. At the same time, it keeps an eye to the past in order to understand evolutions in the field 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 IMSDP empowers students to address spatial development and planning issues - including urban and regional plan-making, programmes and policies - from a complex interdisciplinary perspective that lies at the crossroads of economics, sociology, spatial planning, urbanism, geography, political science, 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 potential to relate methodological aspects to theoretical frameworks, interacting among themselves and with the staff members.
Even though the main concern is about European planning theory and practice, the IMSDP 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.
Career perspectives
PhD students can enhance their research methodological capacities, which should enable them to follow a professional academic trajectory. For them, the IMSDP is a unique opportunity to develop their research capacities and test the robustness of their topic and adopted methodology. It is considered an integral part of their PhD research activities and is fully recognized by the home institutions. Participation in the IMSDP has proved a very positive factor for PhD graduates to find a job in the academic or research world (Alumni records available).
Post-graduate and professional students can broaden their expertise and find job opportunities in public administrations, NGO's and private offices dealing with the complexity of spatial dynamics. For them, the IMSDP represents an opportunity to improve their knowledge about the complexity of spatial development planning in a global perspective. It strengthens the opportunities for developing an academic career (a PhD trajectory, a research position) or for a stronger positioning in the professional environment.
Contact
Academic responsibility
IMSDP Coordinator: Prof. Pieter Van den Broeck
Contact person
Contact: Laura Calders
Educational quality of the study programme
Here you can find an overview of the results of the COBRA internal quality assurance method.Educational quality at study programme level
BlueprintEducational quality at university level
- Consult the documents on educational quality available at university level.
More information?
- More information on the educational quality at KU Leuven
- More information on the available documents
KEY INFORMATION
LOCATION
Leuven
ECTS + DURATION
30 ECTS, 3 months full-time
EDUCATIONAL LEVEL
Postgraduate programme
TUITION FEE
1.750 euro
(free for KU Leuven and partner university’s students if not seeking a KU Leuven degree)
MORE INFO
BROCHURE
Brochure Postgraduate International Module Spatial Development Planning
WEBSITE
Website Postgraduate International Module Spatial Development Planning