LAA340 Design and Management of Urban Blue-Green Infrastructures

LAA 340 directs the spotlight on how the blue-green infrastructure, i.e. all vegetated areas including areas with water, can be used according to plan in the development of cities and towns. Such areas will gain increased importance in the coming years so that cities and towns are developed in a more sustainable direction.

The course deals with how blue-green areas can contribute to social, economic and ecological/environmental sustainability in the most efficient way possible, and a key concept here is the multifunctional blue-green infrastructure with nature-based solutions. In order to achieve these goals, it is necessary to show concretely how the blue-green infrastructure can be adapted, designed and managed to contribute to increased nature experiences in the city and at the same time solve future problems related to climate change by creating robust cities with good adaptability

The course consists of a knowledge base as well as compulsory tasks and exercises. The knowledge base will run more or less the entire semester and includes the following topics: a) Blue-green infrastructure in a town planning perspective. b) Today's challenges, linked to urban growth, public health and climate change. c) Blue-green infrastructure with values and functions, d) Ecological prerequisites as a basis for design e) The rainfall field as a planning unit, f) How do we plan and manage the blue-green resource today at different levels? g) Good national and international role models.

Tasks and exercises are divided into two: In part 1, group work for registration and analyses, a joint fieldwork is included in the task area. Each group prepares a blue-green poster for a catchment area in the case municipality.

In part 2, the students works individually or in small groups a 2 (3) with a self-chosen, self-formulated and self-programmed assignment topic based on proposals from the assignment municipality and the fieldwork in part 1. The students must prepare and get approved a concise program/project plan for their own project with clear problem and goal of the project. What level of detail and progress plan with an overview of the need for further analyses/registrations. The final project must provide an overview of the entire process from problem formulations and objectives, necessary analyzes which must be justified and summarized, alternative concepts/ideas including justifications for the final choice, necessary planning/project material. The assignment must include short descriptions and illustrations that communicate analyzes and proposals in a professionally sound manner.

Parts 1 and 2 make up approx. 1/3 of the workload, part 3, the individual part, 2/3.

Knowledge: The student has advanced knowledge of how blue-green infrastructure (BGI) contributes to sustainable, resilient and equitable urban and local communities. This includes nature-based solutions, catchment-based planning, ecological regeneration, multifunctionality and social sustainability. The student knows key reference facilities and understands BGI in a systems perspective that also includes sustainability values, such as justice both between people today and between current and future generations, as well as the intrinsic value of nature.

Skills: The student can analyze complex landscape architecture issues using systems thinking, critical thinking and problem formulation. The student can develop and evaluate nature-based and multifunctional solutions for urban environments, manage uncertainty and risk, and apply future and exploratory thinking in design, planning and management. The student can communicate analyses, scenarios and professional recommendations clearly to different target groups and use the subject's forms of expression at an advanced level.

General competence: The student can reflect critically on their own professional practice and professional ethics, including the relationship between humans and nature, social and ecological justice and the rights of nature. The student can independently apply and further develop relevant methods, tools and information sources to handle complex planning and design tasks from a sustainability perspective.