APL100 Introduction to the Profession of Urban and Regional Planning

APL 100 is the first course of the master degree in urban and regional planning. The course introduces students to the academic field and the profession of urban- and regional planning. Furthermore, it introduces the students to the system of higher education. The course orients the students by providing an overview of the study program, amongst others by inviting the course responsibles. This gives students Insight into the study's content and enables them to plan and organize their individual study plan.

Augustblokk: Lectures, individual and group work. An excursion of 2-4 days, and more shorter excursions will be arranged. The course focuses on approaches to land use planning and land consolidation, through lectures given by local experts, technical discussions, practical exercises and presentations. Supervised by the teachers, students will participate in a case-related group work which includes a presentation.

Autumn: Seminars introducing the Norwegian planning system, main planning challenges in Norway, planners' societal roles and responsibilities and the most relevant fields of knowledge in planning, such as morphology, architecture and urban design, health and well-being, land use and transport planning, property development, environmental planning, urban sociology and residential planning.

Diverse exercises for developing academic skills, such as literature search, critical reading, reflection and discussions, writing. Group work, presentation and oral exam.

The learning outcomes for APL 100 are as follows:

Knowledge

• Students will recognize the main characteristics and structure of the Norwegian planning system. They will be able to identify the most important types of plans, distinguish between them and be able to explain how different levels of planning are interconnected.
• Students will be able to identify and describe typical challenges in urban and regional planning.
• Students will be able to distinguish between the different disciplines that are relevant to urban and regional planning. Students will thus be able to recognize some opportunities and challenges related to interdisciplinarity in planning.

Skills

• Students will apply this new interdisciplinary knowledge to explore some concrete planning challenges, with an emphasis on the integration of different professional perspectives.
• Students will be able to identify and assess issues related to the societal role of planners, and to their responsibility for social development and the environment.
• Students will develop introductory skills in searching literature within their field. They will also develop their ability to think critically through reading and discussing this literature with fellow students and teachers.
• Students develop skills in presenting and communicating their work to groups of students and teachers and in class discussions.
• Working and presentation skills used in planning practice

Competence

• Students will develop competence to apply the knowledge and skills as described, to independently solve new problems.
• Apply knowledge of the planning system and the role of the planner to independently analyze relevant problems and identify possible solutions.
• Competence in critically reflecting on planning practice, challenges and possible improvements.