Camilla Skjold Ødegaard

Urban Ecological Planning (Master's Programme)

Rolee Aranya

Learning outcomes: The learning outcomes for the program were reviewed and revised in 2018 during the process of reaccreditation. The course learning outcomes were revised in 2019-20 during two rounds of study plan revision. These are updated and represent the content in the program.Constructive Alignment: Yes all courses contribute to the learning outcome, however there are some missing courses in the curriculum. One such course that was discontinued in the program was a course on Geographic Information Systems. This was no longer offered to UEP from the program in Physical Planning. This needs to be revived and reintroduced.Learning environment: The learning environment in the program is impacted by the lack of predictable access to working space and identity space for the students. The capacity of the studio space made available by the Department for the first year students is insufficient for the second year students and the Department has assured that space limitations are being handled. The psycho-social learning environment in the program has been affected by the Covid situation and the lack of stability in the staffing of the program. Both situations are now on the way to being improved. The availability of student mentors to help with interaction with students that were not able to travel to Trondheim due to Covid restrictions has been a valuable action to improve the psycho-social learning environment.Periodical evaluation: The program is in the process of periodical program evaluation.

The study program leaders evaluation of the quality of the study program has been part of the periodical evaluation this year and has been a rigorous process. The report submitted by the program to the external committee is attached here.In addition to the report, the program has identified the following actions to be taken before or ongoing until the yearly evaluation in 2021/22: <ol><li>Mapping of knowledge and capacity base in UEP and developing knowledge platform(Ongoing) - Responsible: UEP program Leader and Staff</li><li>Provision of permanent learning spaces for first and second year students (Urgent): Responsible: IAP</li><li>Fixed agreements and follow up on the staffing plan of the program (Urgent): Responsible: UEP Program Leader and HOD, IAP</li><li>Update of UEP partnership and networking strategy (Ongoing): Responsible: UEP program Leader and Staff</li><li>Recruitment strategy for Norwegian and European students (Ongoing): Responsible: UEP Program Leader, IAP ADM and Faculty ADM</li><li>Development of a UEP logo for use in social media (Ongoing): Responsible: UEP program Leader and Staff</li><li>Clarifying the internship course in the study plan (Urgent): Responsible: UEP program Leader and Staff, Program Board, Faculty Adm</li><li>Reintroduction of the GIS Course in UEP (Urgent): UEP Program Leader and HOD, IAP</li><li>Further development of Alumni Networks (Ongoing) - Responsible: UEP program Leader and Staff</li></ol>

NTNU:TIA:REST

Fakultet for arkitektur og design

Faculty of Architecture and Design

May Uran

Brief summary og report – periodic evaluation of Master in Physical Planning (MFYSPL), Master in Real Estate and Facilities Management (MEIENDOM, MAIENDOM), Master of Science in Urban Ecological Planning (MSA1)&nbsp;The panel’s 23 proposals for further improvements relate to A) future societal needs, B) academic curricula, C) synergies and cooperation and D) management and administration. The recommendations are mostly of a strategic character and focused across the curricula of the planning and architecture programmes, spanning educational levels and research and master students and PhD candidates, as well as administrative routines. &nbsp;As the faculty has asked the panel to focus on future societal needs the following 8 themes are considered in need of special attention in the future – all with complex digital tools: &nbsp;• Sustainability becomes increasingly complex. This relates for instance to connecting land use – landscape architecture – surface water drainage. Development of large infrastructure systems requires solutions for a larger territory than the individual site. One needs to clarify what challenges should be solved at which planning level. • Interdisciplinarity requires balancing different interests. NTNU should teach and train candidates in design and management of complex processes towards sustainability. • Social sustainability, including housing policy, must be secured both at strategic local authority level (structure plan – “kommuneplanens samfunnsdel”) and at local planning for individual projects. • Ecosystem services relate to both system development of nature as well as area encroachment. outside and rewilding inside the urban fabric (urban ecology, urban farming etc). • Mobility planning applies several different digital tools especially related to ATP where pedestrian mobility will become more important in the future. • Implementation strategies with methods and tools to handle planning briefs, planning obligations and different legal tools for sharing plan made values, should be integrated early in the planning processes. • Development of concepts and solutions for a city, district or linear infrastructure requires interdisciplinarity and spatial literacy. The topic of environmental psychology is also becoming increasingly important. &nbsp;Planning processes for large infrastructure projects headed by public planning agencies often involve hundreds of stakeholders, frequent changes in the process, challenging decision processes, and time shortage. Additionally, society tends to organize bigger implementation processes as “Turnkey contracts” where professional knowledge is often challenged.

Mrudhula Soe Koshy

Since the last evaluation of the program, the biggest unprecedented change that had repercussions on the program was the introduction of tuition fees for students outside EU. The program along with the keen support of the department spearheaded a communication and promotion campaign to ensure that aspiring urban planning students from within NTNU, Norway and EU will be able to know more about the program. It is too early to know the full effects of the promotion campaign as it is heavily influenced by education policies at the national level and higher ranks of the university. Furthermore, the possible introduction of scholarships from next year may also influence the nature of the campaign. At the moment, the program is also actively engaged in discussions within the department regarding an enhanced collaboration between the three master planning programs and a possible reduction of separate course, and an increased sharing of courses among the three programs. Decisions regarding this will also determine the direction of the program as well as strategic choices in which courses to prioritise.

The past academic year has witnessed multiple unprecedented changes. Being an international master program, the UEP program is direly affected by the recent introduction of exorbitant tuition fees for students outside of EU. This has resulted in a drop in acceptance of admissions in the year 2023 from international students. The number of applicants to the program however indicates its continued relevance and attractiveness to students. UEP had a total of 132 first priority applicants for 20 seats, of which 109 were international applicants, 11 were from EU countries and 12 were Nordic applicants. This year the program had a high number of applicants from Nordic countries, bolstered by the promotion campaign by student assistants who travelled to universities within Norway to promote the program to aspiring applicants from relevant bachelor programs. The delay in sending out acceptance letters from NTNU compared to other universities in Norway has also likely contributed to the reduction in acceptance letters from Nordic students. Changes in policies regarding sending out acceptance letters might be crucial to attract Nordic applicants to international programs at NTNU. Similarly, in the event of no change in tuition fee policies, scholarships are crucial to bring back international students who are a core component of a diverse and rich study environment in classrooms. Overall, the students have positively evaluated the program regarding supervision, engagement in class and balance in courses providing theoretical, methodological and practical insights. Last year, the first year students had in-depth exposure to planning in a Global South context through immersive fieldwork experience in Kochi, a city in the southern part of India. In spite of multiple logistic challenges due to travel visas, all students enrolled in the first semester were able to travel and stay in Kochi for several weeks. This subjective experience was found to be foundational in how they analysed socio-spatial conditions in other contexts, and their choice of methods and approaches to planning in assignments for courses in subsequent semesters. The students were also given funded opportunities to enhance their study portfolio through participation in summer schools as part of the ENHANCE university alliance (2 students travelled to Poland and 4 travelled to Spain). 2 students also received stipends to conduct fieldwork for their thesis in Nepal, and one student received a scholarship for her thesis from Habitat Norge. In autumn 2022, several students also went undertook an exchange semester abroad in universities in Sweden, Italy, Belgium and The Netherlands. Some of the critiques the students raised include the desire to have all lectures recorded so that their presence is class is not mandatory. Since most courses in UEP prioritise proactive engagement and discussions in class, as far as possible, students are encouraged to attend lectures in person. Active teaching and facilitating discussions in class while recording the lectures is challenging. Some courses function in a hybrid manner wherein some prerecorded lectures are provided beforehand. Similarly, online guest lectures are also recorded. Another critique is limited advice on working life after the program. Since the last two years, the program has taken efforts to bring in alumni working in the public and private sector to talk to students as part of the orientation week. Advice is also given regarding possible opportunities for internships. In addition, student assistants are regularly hired to work alongside the teaching staff on various research and mobility projects giving students an exposure to academic working life. The staff also regularly share vacancies for relevant positions on the UEP alumni Facebook page. Several students who graduated in 2022 and 2023 have got positions in Norway (PhD positions, research associates within IAP for EU projects, as urban planner in municipalities, as GIS consultants etc) indicating the relevance of the program for planning practice in Norway. This semester, the teaching staff plan to organize an alumni meet in Trondheim in early December ahead of the 25th anniversary of the program and to facilitate meeting between UEP students of different batches many of whom are still in Norway.

The last academic year has functioned on limited capacity since one of the Professors was on sabbatical, the other Professor was on a reduced position, a newly appointed Associate Professor has quit his position, and the assistant professor functioned as interim program leader while balancing teaching duties and PhD research. The return of the Professor from sabbatical since Autumn 2023 and her resuming of program leader duties has enabled a partial restoration of teaching capacity. Nevertheless, the program depends on temporary teaching staff to ensure that all courses are taught well without compromising on teaching and supervision quality. The reduction of 1 permanent teaching position from this autumn semester therefore has repercussions on the number of courses that can be taught in each semester. The ongoing deliberation of enhanced collaboration between the three planning programs at the department is therefore a positive outcome to deal with the disbalance between the number of courses and the number of teaching staff. The program also sees the importance of enhancing collaboration with the design department as well as the geography department. Because of the introduction of tuition fees, the student composition of the program has shifted. This also brings to the forefront the priorities of the program as well as the future direction of the program. The current program staff are committed to imparting a progressive planning education that equally emphasises the social and spatial dimensions of urban contexts both in the Global North and Global South. The UEP staff have presented in various seminars, conferences and invited as guest lecturers in various universities and organisations in India, Norway, The Netherlands, Italy and Spain to name a few. The past year, the UEP teaching staff has spearheaded and involved in several research proposals the last year, notably Horizon Europe proposal on 'Nature-based solutions integrated to protect local infrastructure' as work package lead, New Frontiers for Research on 'Climate Change Adaptation for transformative adaptation for critical infrastructure' as Co-PI and work package lead, and Erasmus + global mobility proposal. Earlier funded projects on Urban Rivers continues this semester, with scholarships for students to do their thesis in Nepal next semester. Similarly, the UTFORSK project also continues with some of the UEP staff and the first year students undertaking a 2-week study trip to South Africa in October. The UEP staff are the main NTNU representative for the urban planning collaboration in the ENHANCE university alliance, and have been involved deeply in the planning, teaching and coordination of the summer school on synergic urban infrastructure this year in September in Valencia, Spain. UEP staff also organised a 3-day workshop on public spaces in the Gløshaugen campus as part of the Shared Public space project. Furthermore, several students from other departments and faculties have taken UEP courses as electives and are influenced by the methods, theories and approaches. 2 students in physical planning and 1 student from geography have planned to undertake their thesis on 'planning under uncertainty' based on content addressed in the course 'Urban Contingency Planning and Practice'.

Currently, the program is in a period of transition due to the introduction of tuition fees for students outside the EU, and actively engaging within the department regarding enhanced collaboration between the three planning programs. The program has also renewed the program board for the next two years, retaining more or less the members of the board from the last two years as they have not had a proper opportunity to give their input to the direction of the program. The program staff appreciates the continued support of the department regarding its sustenance in spite of the unfortunate drop in numbers in international students. The program has a lot to offer at NTNU, Norway and beyond regarding planning education and planning research, especially in the times of climate crisis, so we hope to continue to build on the good work done so far.

Urban Ecological Planning (Master's Programme) - MSA1