Regional and Environmental Laboratory: Report
Code: 104247 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2503710 Geography, Environmental Management and Spatial Planning | OB | 2 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Antoni Durà Guimerà
- Email:
- antoni.dura@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Teachers
- Antoni Durà Guimerà
- Jerònia Vadell Cubells
Prerequisites
To enrol in this subject (asignatura), it is very important to register also for second year subject "Qualitative Methods and Fieldwork" (Code 104248), because it is linked to “Territorial and Environmental Laboratory: Report”.
Moreover, it is convenient to pass 70% of the credits of the first year (7 out of 10 subjects) and 60% of the second year’s first semester (3 out of 5).
Objectives and Contextualisation
The subject, as its name indicates, has an applied character and is guided by the methodology of learning by challenges: it is to face real and complex problems identified by the different actors of the territory in order to realize an adequate definition and point out possible solutions. Challenging learning is today a widely recognized methodology that allows not only to deal with real case studies, but also to insert the student in environments in which in the future he can develop his professional career. It is also a good opportunity to experiment with the knowledge and methods acquired in other subjects of the Degree. In this Second Year Laboratory (LTA-M) it is important to make a good diagnosis of the topic, ending with some proposals for solving specific aspects of the problem.
For the 2022-23 academic year, we will focus our area of work around the Community Facilities of the city of Terrassa. The third city in Catalonia is in the process of drawing up a Community Facilities Plan that will allow it to adequately address the needs arising from the remarkable growth that the city is experiencing in recent times, and which is expected to continue in the coming years. The challenge posed will be, from the identification of specific problems expressed by local actors (nursery schools, markets, civic centers, sports facilities, libraries ...), select, define, and work collaboratively in order to point out possible solutions. We will work in small groups, each of which will delve into a small set of equipment. The results will be presented to municipal officials and other actors in society.
Competences
- Apply methods and techniques of quantitative, qualitative and field work analysis in the interpretation of territorial and environmental processes.
- Draw up action and intervention plans in the territory which respond to sociodemographic and environmental problems.
- Explain and represent territorial processes using statistical techniques, and graphic, cartographic and geographical information representations.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Work cooperatively in multidisciplinary teams.
Learning Outcomes
- Define the main regional problems in a case study.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Use statistical data and instruments to describe the geographical situation in a case study.
- Use techniques of quantitative and qualitative analysis.
- Work cooperatively in multidisciplinary teams.
Content
The contents have a double character: on the one hand methodological (learning by challenges, how to elaborate a diagnosis, an urban monograph, a plan of equipments in his elements) and on the other practical (knowledge of the reality of the city studied, in this case Terrassa, and its network of community facilities).
1. Introduction to the challenge-oriented learning methodology.
2. Diagnosis of the Community Facilities of Terrassa.
3. Terrace, dynamics of a growing city: elaboration of an urban monograph.
4. Community Facilities Plans.
5. Challenges associated with Terrassa Facilities:
5.1. The demand for equipment: demography and society.
5.2. The offer: the equipment inventory.
6 .. GIS tools to support the case study analysis.
7. The regulatory framework: urban planning and sectoral plans.
8. The calculation of needs: standards and recommendations.
9. Outline of possible solutions in relation to the defined challenge.
10. Resources for the presentation of the results
Methodology
Following the methodology of learning by challenges, the subject is based on a coordinated set of practical works that lead to the elaboration and presentation of a Report of Territorial and environmental Diagnosis on very concrete aspects of the problem posed by the local actors, finally providing some solution proposals to solve them.
The task will be carried out in small groups of 3 students, who can be grouped flexibly depending on the dynamics of work. The practical activity will be accompanied by a set of theoretical and methodological support sessions, as well as the tutoring of the whole learning process. In addition, this process will be carried out in coordination with the aforementioned subject of Qualitative Methods and Fieldwork (MQTC).
The stages of the challenge learning methodology are:
1. Discovery
The first phase involves a double recognition:
a) on the one hand, of the territory and the study problem for each of the working groups, coming into contact with the first actors of the territory, in this case the people in charge of the Equipment Plan;
b) on the other, of the tools necessary to carry out the subsequent research properly: the elaboration of the diagnosis, and the procedure for making an Equipment Plan.
In this phase, each group will make a Delivery on the monograph of Terrassa, and individually it will be necessary to solve a questionnaire on the methodology of the equipment plans.
2. Research
Research should follow the process of analyzing the three parts of an equipment plan: understanding demand, supply, and needs. This stage also has a double aspect:
a) On the one hand, general documents are analyzed (demographic analysis and projections, equipment inventories, regulatory frameworks ...).
b) On the other hand, contact is made with the assigned equipment, conducting interviews with their managers and visiting facilities, observing users and the environment. In this part, cooperation with the MQTC subject is essential.
3. Identification of needs and proposals for improvement
The third phase is characterized by obtaining results, accurately identifying the shortcomings in each of the sectors, and coming to point out proposals for improvement at an initial level for the equipment analyzed by each group.
These activities will have the reinforcement of conferences and workshops aimed at obtaining creative results.
4. Presentation of Results
Communicating the results is an essential step in the process. It will be done in three formats:
• Diagnosis Report
• Posters
• Oral presentations
As previously stated, the key results are expected to be presented to municipal officials and / or key actors in Terrassa’s civil society.
Learning activities
Directed
Lectures on methodology and the case study
Joint fieldwork for the first territorial analysis
Supervised
Orientation and follow-up sessions on the preparation of the Report
Orientation sessions and follow-up of the presentation of the results (oral presentation)
Autonomous
Methodological readings and on the problem posed (the territory and the equipment)
Information search and analysis: documentation and statistics
Field work: visits to the facilities and interviews with managers
Elaboration of the results: Report, oral presentation, posters.
Note: 15 minutes of a class will be reserved, within the calendar established by the center / degree, for the complementation by the students of the surveys of evaluation of the performance of the profesorado and of evaluation of the asignatura / module.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| a) Expositive classes on methodology and the case study | 20 | 0.8 | 1, 3, 4 |
| b) Joint field work | 11 | 0.44 | 1, 3, 4 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| a) Diagnosis guindance sessions | 10 | 0.4 | 2, 5, 3, 4 |
| b) Guidance for the presentation of results | 9 | 0.36 | 5, 3, 4 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| a) Theoretical and methodological readings | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 2 |
| b) Information search: documentation, statistics and field work | 25 | 1 | 2, 5, 3, 4 |
| c) Analysis and preparation of the diagnosis | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 2, 5, 3, 4 |
| d) Presentation of results | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 2, 5, 3, 4 |
Assessment
The evaluation will take into account:
a) The final results of the process of elaboration of the Report of the territorial and environmental Diagnosis (written Report, oral presentation and poster), where the procedure and the achievement in the resolution of the posed challenge will be evaluated.
b) The gradual learning process, based on three follow-up reports (Terrassa Monograph; Inventory of plans; Regulatory framework and standards).
In addition, some aspects of the Report (contents, methodology) will be evaluated in the subject "Qualitative methods and fieldwork".
The subject follows a continuous learning and assessment schedule that must be followed on time. The delivery dates of the works must be respected. Delay in deliveries will result in a penalty of 10% of the grade per day. At the time of each assessment activity, the teacher will inform students of the procedure and the date of review of grades.
The grade of the subject will be the average of the grades obtained in the different items evaluated. Failure to complete any of the items implies that the subject is "Not assessable". To be able to average, you must have obtained at least a 4 in each of the evaluable items.
Recovery: Recovery requires that all items requested in the assessment have been submitted.
The follow-up exercises and the poster will be recoverable items. They may be recovered, respectively, with another examination, and with the revision of the suspended poster. Due to its nature, the Written Report and the oral presentations will not be retrieved.
Attendance at joint fieldwork outings and oral presentations is mandatory. If you are unable to attend, you will need a receipt. Repeated non-attendance at these activities will result in the item not being assessable (at least 50% of the joint outings must have been attended, and 2/3 of the oral presentation sessions).
In the event that the student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation inthe grade of an assessment act, this assessment act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be instructed. In the event of several irregularities in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Follow-up exercices | 35% | 11 | 0.44 | 2, 3, 4 |
| Participation | 10% | 0 | 0 | 2, 5 |
| Report of the territorial and environmental diagnosis | 40% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 5, 3, 4 |
| Report's oral presentation and poster | 15% | 4 | 0.16 | 2, 5 |
Bibliography
We provide some basic references. The detailed bibliography will be provided at the beginning of the course.
About the Diagnosis methodology
Generalitat de Catalunya (2004?). Planejament territorial. Criteris. Barcelona, Departament de Política Territorial i Obres Publiques.
Generalitat de Catalunya (2009). Memòria ambiental (Document orientatiu per a la redacció de la memòria ambiental en el marc de l’avaluació ambiental de Plans d’Ordenació Urbanística municipal). Barcelona, Departament de Medi Ambient i Habitatge.
Ruiz, Robert (dir) (2012). La diagnosi del territori com a suport a les decisions estratègiques. Guies metodològiques per a la planificació estratègica, 3, Barcelona, Diputació de Barcelona.
https://www1.diba.cat/llibreria/pdf/51168.pdf
Nel·lo, Oriol (2012). Ordenar el territorio. La experiencia de Barcelona y Cataluña. Valencia, Tirant lo Blanch.
Departament de Territori i Sostenibilitat. (2012). Text Refós de la Llei d’urbanisme de Catalunya, Col·lecció “Quaderns de legislació”, 94 (2a edició), Generalitat de Catalunya.
https://seuelectronica.vilanova.cat/content/tramits/REFOSurbanisme2.pdf
Castañer, M. (ed) (2012). El planejament territorial a Catalunya a inici del segle XXI: una nova interpretació i projecció del país, Societat Catalana d’Ordenació del Territori.
Software
Softward related to Geographical Information Systems