Sustainability and Planning in a Globalized World 15 credits

About the course

The course provides in-depth knowledge of planning and sustainable development with a focus on human geography and provides an opportunity for subject-specific preparation for the thesis project. The course deals with current themes in human geographical research and in research on spatial planning with a focus on sustainable development in international contexts. The course highlights how and why problems, perspectives and planning vary in different parts of the world.

Module 1: Planning for Sustainable Development from a Human Geography Perspective (10 credits)

This module deepens the understanding of how the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development have evolved over time. It explores what sustainable development entails for spatial planning and development work from different perspectives and geographical contexts. The module addresses themes central to sustainable planning, including conflicting interests, aspects of (in)equality, climate change/adaptation, and vulnerability. It also explores how planning relates to broader societal challenges such as crises and risk. Through theoretical perspectives and case studies, students examine the opportunities and challenges these themes present for planning and development work in different geographical contexts.

Module 2: Thematic In-depth Studies (5 credits)

During this part of the course the student is introduced to systematic literature reviews as a part of the research process. These methods are thereafter applied in a term paper assignment on a topic relating to course themes agreed upon with the teacher.