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The objective of the Advanced Master’s course in Urban and Regional Planning is to offer holders of a standard second cycle degree an advanced second cycle program opening on to the disciplines concerned with the organisation of space as the basis for the processes of social, economic and cultural development. It will trace a path through the current issues and the skills needed in urban planning and management, and will be supported by critical questioning of the concepts of development and the relation between societies and their environment.
 
This program rests on the postulate that a global and interdisciplinary approach is more than ever needed. More than simply acquiring a cerebral mastery of the theories and models produced by the various disciplines, students will need to display their capacity to work in interdisciplinary teams. The experience and the complementarities of each will be put to the service of a group understanding of problems, the design of technologically and culturally appropriate plans, and the methodological imagination of the group which is necessary to arrive at creative solutions. For the urban and regional planners, for instance, it is a question of better integrating the social and environmental dimensions into the management of space and to pose the global question about regional planning ; and for the other professions concerned with development, it is a question of taking more account of the diversity of practices and concepts of development and to learn to integrate the spatial dimension better.

This program comprises a core curriculum of 57 credits and an elective of 3 credits
The program is structured around four kinds of activities:
 
Interdisciplinary theoretical courses (24 credits)
7 compulsory courses of 2 to 4 credits + 1 elective of 3 credits to be chosen from the UCL second cycle program.
 
Workshops (16 credits)
The idea of “workshop” goes back to the idea of learning seen from an interdisciplinary, integrated perspective. A large part of the workshop is devoted to group work.
 
Every workshop will run for 15 weeks on one day per week. The Advanced Master’s program has two workshops:

• Strategic planning (8 credits in the first semester)
• Operational urban planning (8 credits in the second semester)

The workshops will be prepared and led by a pedagogical team of four or five teachers. A coordinator will be charged with stimulating interaction between the teachers during the preparation to ensure the coherence of the sessions, to organise the participation of the external contributors, and to coordinate the evaluation which will be made of the basis of individual and group work.
 
A detailed workshop program will be announced at the beginning of the year or semester under the auspices of the degree committee and respecting the course descriptions listed below.
 
Interdisciplinary seminar on urban and regional planning (5 credits)
The interdisciplinary seminar on urban and regional planning will comprise three types of activities:
 
- A cycle of lectures and debates organised in partnership with ISURU (Institut supérieur d'Urbanisme et de Rénovation Urbaine) and the AULNE association (association des urbanistes de Louvain-la-Neuve), under the auspices of l'APERAU (Association pour la Promotion de l’Enseignement et de la Recherche en Aménagement et Urbanisme).
 
- One or two study trips, which normally form part of a partnership or exchange with students of similar European programs (Amsterdam 2003, Strasbourg 2004, Lausanne 2005, Naples 2006, Barcelona 2007)  
- An assignment synthesising and critically analysing lecture notes or the students’ personal notes of their study trips.
As for the workshops, a detailed workshop program will be announced at the beginning of the year or semester under the auspices of the degree committee and respecting the course descriptions listed below.  

Placement and thesis (15 credits)
The program includes the writing and defence of a thesis demonstrating the students’ capacity to master, by means of a piece of autonomous scientific work, an analysis and proposal which contribute to the resolution of a concrete problem of regional development.
 
The thesis will be based on a professional placement of at least 300 hours in public administration, an urban planning agency, an NGO or a private association, developing a project in the field of regional planning. This placement may be done in Belgium or abroad and students are free to propose their own plans. The placement is generally done in the second semester, but it is also possible to do it afterwards. Students working professionally in this field can, in parallel with the Advanced Master’s, have their work recognised as their placement, with the approval of the degree committee. The placement will be under the direction of one of the teachers of the program and chosen by the student to be his/her thesis supervisor. This is governed by an agreement between the student, his/her supervisor and a placement superevisor in the host institution.  The process of group assessment of the placement and thesis will involve three weeks during the year, which will correspond to the availabilities of the students :

• Seminar 1 Novemeber. Selection of the various placement projects and thesis topics. Drawing up of a placement agreement.
• Seminar 2 December. Exchange with the representatives of the organisations associated with the placement program. Drawing up of a plan defining the objective, method and structure of the placement report and the thesis.
• Seminar 3 April. Exchange of experiences of the placements, relating them to the thesis

The individual course of the  placement and the thesis is monitored by the assignments supervisor, in concert with the student and the placement supervisor. The placement will conclude with a placement report which may form an integral part of the thesis or be added as an appendix. When students consider they have completed the assignment, they will first report to the supervisor who will decide if the combined “Placement and thesis” is acceptable as regards content and form. If the supervisor’s advice is positive, the work will be given to two external readers, one of whom will be the person who supervised the placement in the host institution or a representative.There will be an oral public defence of the thesis before a board chaired by the president or secretary of the degree committee and consisting of the supervisor and the two readers. The thesis will be accompanied by an abstract which will be published in the bulletin of the program. The oral defences traditionally take place on the last Monday and Tuesday of the examination sessions.

Students with at least a distinction on completion of this advanced master’s are authorised to enrol in the thematic doctoral school in regional development. See the website: http://www.developpement-territorial.net

See the general admission requirements

Procédures particulières :

Specific procedures :

 

The program is open to Belgians and foreigners with a university degree (or equivalent) testifying to second cycle studies of at least 300 ECTS as recognised by the program degree committee.

 

The number of enrolments is limited to 25 per academic year.

 

Selection is made by the degree committee on the basis of the quality of the candidate’s application. The candidate’s interest in the program and its importance in his/her career, as clearly set out in a letter of motivation, are one of the main criteria in the selection of candidates. Selection is made as the applications arrive at two periods in the year: a maximum of 12 enrolments will be accepted between 1 April and 30 June of the academic year ending; the second selection period will begin on 1 July and will end on the Friday preceding the first day of the academic year. The committee reserves the right to reject candidacies beyond that date.

 

In function of the origin of the degrees, the degree committe may require certain candidates to follow a supplementary upgrading program. If this supplementary program exceeds 15 ECTS, the student’s program will entail a supplementary year of studies prior to enrolment in the advanced master’s.

Among the degrees accepted without a supplementary program are: architecture, civil engineering, agronomy (bio-engineering), industrial engineering, holders of a « licence » or master’s in science, economics, sociology, politics, law, tourism, history, art history and archeology ...

 

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The advanced master’s is a one year full time daytime program organised in two blocks of 15 weeks, of  2 to 3 days of activities per week, in order to allow students to carry on working at the same time as their training. It can even be spread over two academic years.

 

In the same spirit, candidates with a job in the field can have this work recognised as their placement, with the approval of the degree committee. Finally it should be noted that the lecture cycle organised in the framework of the interdisciplinary seminar URBA/ISURU/AULNE takes place in the evening and is also seen as an activity of continuing education.

 

The pedagogical approach of the program has been devised according to three main principles :
 
A pedagogy of interdisciplinarity  
The program opens students to the main theoretical angles of approach to the problems and practice of regional development. The group activities stimulate openness and interdisciplinary encounters. In the practical work, the need to communicate influences the formulation of syntheses revealing the complementarity of approaches.
 
A pedagogy of project work   
The program stresses the development of knowledge, interpersonal skills and the knowhow necessary to manage the processes of regional change in a complex decisional context. It is about being able to anticipate social evolutions and propose scenarios to which a global regional strategy can be related and on which specific operations can be founded : the (re)development of sites, the development of transport networks, design of new neighbourhoods etc.   

A pedagogy based on concrete regional experiences 
The program devotes much space to the critical analysis of experiences, in particular those of the participants. It is also based on the field work where real problems are encountered, and is directed as a team with the participation of the teachers concerned, its objective being to arrive at collective proposals for intervening which can be submitted to public debate.
 

The theoretical interdisciplinary courses
Evaluation procedures determined by each teacher (see course descriptions)
 
The workshops
Intermediate evaluation midway in the form of a group presentation before the workshop teachers. Final evaluation on the basis of a public defence of the results of the group work by a board consisting of the teachers and an external person.  

The interdisciplinary seminar 
Individual written work. Report and critical analysis of the lectures.

The placement and thesis 
The placement ends with a report, which may form an integral part of the thesis or constitute an appendix. There will be an oral defence of the before a board chaired by the president or secretary of the degree committee and consisting of the supervisor and two readers (see also General presentation of the programme: the placement and the thesis)

The interdisciplinary seminar forms a special basis for cooperation and international exchanges by means of :
- the annual lecture cycle URBA/ISURU/AULNE, participation in the APERAU network, and on the other hand
- the annual study trip which normally gives rise to exchanges with the European university students enrolled in similar programs (Amsterdam 2003, Strasbourg 2004, Lausanne 2005, Naples 2006).  

Interuniversity cooperation
The following scientific partnerships with URBA also contribute to the internationalisation of the program :  EPFL à Lausanne (post-graduate « Projets territoriaux et mutations spatiales »)/Université de la Sapienza à Rome / Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Paysages à Versailles, /Ecole d’architecture Ville et Territoire à Marnes la Vallée / Institut d’Urbanisme de Paris/ UMSS à Cochabamba (Bolivie) / Université catholique du Chili / etc. These exchanges give rise to exchanges between teachers and, increasingly, between students on their placements. 

Networks associated with the placement program   
Experience has shown that the placement program also constitutes a useful means of opening up the program to the outside world and greatly contributes to its appeal among the students. In this perspective, the advanced master’s can call on the networks of organisations which have hosted the students doing their placements from the former specialised diploma in urban and regional development.
 
Last year, certain students did their placements in development projects abroad. The partner countries are the following : Bolivia (3), Cambodia (1), Chile (1), China (1), Equador (1), Spain (1), France (1), Mexico (1),Kenya (1).
 
In September 2006 the network of organisations associated with the program by means of placements comprises the following : AGORA s.a. (Bruxelles) / Aménagement scc (Bruxelles) / ARIES Group scc (Bruxelles) / Atelier Group Teams (Bruxelles) / AUSIA sprl (Bruxelles, Belgique) / Ayuntamiento de Girona (Girona, Espagne) / Association Berger-Rogier s.a. (Genappe) / CHANTIERS NATURE (Lille, France) / Clerbaut et Pinon ADF (Bruxelles, B.) / Commune de Saint Josse Ten Noode (Belgique) / Commune de Molenbeek Saint Jean (Belgique) / COOPARCH (Bruxelles, B.) / COPLAUR (Guadalajara, Mexique) / Conseil Régional du nord – Pas de Calais (Lille, France) / Délégation du Pentagone (Bruxelles,Belgique) / ERU asbl (Bruxelles) / Habitat et Rénovation (Bruxelles) / Inter-environnement Bruxelles (Bruxelles, B .) / Handicap International (Lyon, France) / Ministère de la Région Wallonne – DGATLP (Namur, Belgique) / PLANECO sprl (Wavre)/ PRAHC-UMSS (Cochabamba, Bolivie) / RECYCL’ART asbl (Bruxelles, Belgique) / RENOVAs asbl, (Schaerbeek, Belgique) / TRANSITEC sa (Namur, Belgique) / Ville de Tournai (Belgique).
 

Legend
Mandatory Optional Courses not taught this academic year Periodic courses not taught this academic year Periodic courses taught this academic year Two year courses
Click on the course code to see detailed informations (objectives, methods, evaluation...)
URBA2990	Travail de fin d'études personnel articulé sur un stage professionnel  (in French)	Bernard Declève		15credits		x
AUCE2915	Planification stratégique (cours - atelier)  (in French)	Marie-Laurence De Keersmaecker, Pierre Defourny, Yves Hanin (coord.)	60h + 45h	8credits	1q	x
AUCE2925	Urbanisme opérationnel (cours - atelier)  (in French)	Bernard Declève (coord.), Francis Haumont, Jean-Pol Van Reybroeck	60h + 45h	8credits	2q	x
AUCE2930	Processus territoriaux et modèles de développement  (in French)	Marie-Laurence De Keersmaecker, Yves Hanin (coord.)	30h	3credits	1q	x
AUCE2940	Morphologie urbaine et analyse des paysages  (in French)	Bernard Declève, Rosanna Forray, Jean-Pol Van Reybroeck	45h	4credits	1q	x
AUCE2950	Systèmes de décision en urbanisme et développement territorial  (in French)	Bernard Declève, Yves Hanin, Christian Lasserre, Benoît Périlleux	45h	4credits	2q	x
AUCE2960	Mobilités, urbanisme et développement territorial  (in French)	Bernard Declève, Vincent Kaufmann	30h	3credits	1q	x
AUCE2965	Introduction au droit de l'urbanisme et de l'aménagement du territoire  (in French)	Francis Haumont, Francis Haumont (supplée N.)	15h	2credits	1q	x
AUCE2975	Séminaire interdisciplinaire d'urbanisme et développement territorial  (in French)	Bernard Declève, Yves Hanin, Jean-Pol Van Reybroeck	60h + 30h	5credits	1q	x
BIRE2102A	Géomatique appliquée à l'environnement : partim  (in French)	Pierre Defourny	30h	3credits		x
DROP2061A	Droit du développement durable - 1ère partie  (in French)	N.	15h	2credits	2q	x

AUCE2192	Gestion des choix technologiques  (in French)	Bernard Declève, Jean-François Thimus	20h	3credits	1q	x
AUCE2360	Pratiques de l'habiter domestique et urbain  (in French)	Yves Hanin	30h	3credits	2q	x
AUCE3011A	Acteurs, territoires et contextes de développement  (in French)	N.	30h	3credits	1q	x
DVLP2330	Planification and integrated development policies  (in French)	Joseph Amougou (supplée null)	30h	5credits	1q	x
DVLP2675	Global and local dynamics of development - environment inter-actions  (in French)	Bernard Declève, Etienne Verhaegen	30h	5credits	2q	x
GEO1322	Human and economic geography 2  (in French)	Marie-Laurence De Keersmaecker (coord.), Isabelle Thomas	25h + 25h	4credits		x

AUCE2370	Analyse et composition urbaine  (in French)	Christian Gilot	30h	3credits	1q	x
AUCE2372	Analyse et composition paysagère  (in French)	Bernard Declève, Jean Stillemans (coord.)	30h	3credits	2q	x

BRAT2102	Spatial modelling of territorial dynamics  (in French)	Pierre Defourny	15h + 15h	3credits	2q	x
GEO1241	Cartography  (in French)	Dominique Peeters, Isabelle Thomas, Isabelle Thomas (supplée Dominique Peeters)	30h + 30h	5credits		x

DROP2062	Urban Planning Law  (in French)	Charles-Hubert Born, Francis Haumont	30h	5credits	2q	x
DROP2063	Environmental Law  (in French)	Damien Jans, Nicolas de Sadeleer	30h	5credits	2q	x