• Inactive for Year: 2024/25

• Module Leader(s): Dr Charlotte Veal

• Owning School: Architecture, Planning & Landscape
• Teaching Location: Mixed Location

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

The Barcelona field course aims to give students the opportunity to study first-hand the planning and management of the landscape of the city and metropolitan area of Barcelona as it is being shaped by past, present and future challenges (e.g. climate change, green infrastructure, ecological networks, regeneration, heritage management and tourism).

Students will apply critical thinking and appraisal to a plethora of landscapes including historic, ‘natural’, industrial and recreations. Students will be asked to identity and reflect on different stakeholders and potential conflicts, consider research management and maintenance resolutions, to produce new management plans, and outline recommendations at both local and strategic level.

These connections will be introduced and developed through a briefing session and lecture and build on learning in semester 1 (Conceptualising Landscape, Green Infrastructure and Planning 1), after which students will undertake a residential field course in Barcelona, Spain, where they will complete a mixture of guided activities and group projects.

In the eventuality that the field course is not possible due to travel restrictions (Covid-19), the module team will deliver a programme of guided activities (live in-person and/or live online, as appropriate).

Outline Of Syllabus

1) A briefing lecture (early semester 2) where the nature of the module will be set out as well as an introduction to Barcelona and Catalonia encompassing its past present and future landscape management and planning challenges/opportunities. This will be followed by two lectures focused on core themes relating to landscape planning and management projects and policies in Barcelona.

2) Field class during the Easter vacation (or in the case of COVID-19 restrictions, a programme of guided activities delivered by the module teaching team at Newcastle)

3) Field course (*provisional only, estimated cost £750-£1,000 per student)

Day 1 – Arrival, familiarise group to area, briefing
Day 2 – Guided/group activities, guest speakers, tutorials
Day 3 – Guided/group activities, tutorials
Day 4 – Guided/group activities and surgery sessions
Day 5 – Final group activities, assessment (presentations), Departure

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

N/A

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The lectures will unpack key issues relating to the country being visited, its context and practices before the commencement of a field trip which will involve guided activities in conjunction with independent study. The lectures and the field trip feed into the learning outcomes of the course because:

1) The lectures will draw out key contextual differences students need to be aware of and practice themes for the country in question.
2) The field trip itself (and the visits to particular sites, and/or meeting practitioners) will allow students to experience different landscape planning and management practice/issues in a different situation first hand.
3) Both the lectures and the field trip will allow students to understand how different landscape planning/management practices differ between the UK and Spain.
4) If for reasons to do with travel restrictions it is not possible to undertake an international trip then this will be replaced by UK based alternatives.

During the field trip, students will work in groups and will be required to produce a 10-minute presentation (accounting for 50% of the module mark). The presentations will report on the research undertaken by students throughout the week (thematic focus of the research will be decided beforehand and will involve primary/secondary research as appropriate). Students will be given adequate guidance in terms of structure (i.e. introduction, research questions, existing debates-literature, methodology, main findings/data analysis and conclusions) and the practicalities of giving presentations through tutorials and surgery). This will offer students the opportunity to develop presentation and group working skills. It will also offer the opportunity for students to develop their listening and analytical skills as they engage with the material presented by other groups.

The individual reflexive diary will be completed during (and finalised after) the week spent in Barcelona (with staff guidance) and will comprise 2,000 words (consisting of 50% of the module mark). This will draw on experiences and critical reflections of activities in the ‘field’ and will be contextualised with reference to relevant literatures. The assessment will give students the opportunity to reflect on the theoretical and methodological issues involved in undertaking landscape planning and management research/projects.

Reading Lists

• APL8017's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• APL8017's Timetable