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.