Aims

Knowledge :
To further develop understanding of the processes of human and physical geography and how these processes interact within the context of the issues and problems that occur at the regional scale.
To analyse regional development policies, and assess their impact within different case study areas.

Skills:
To apply fundamental geographic principles and techniques to real-world problems and thus, to bridge the gap between the classroom and geography in practice.
To develop the capacity for critical appraisal of regional policies and development. To develop and apply a working knowledge of the English language within the framework of the University language plan.

Personal skills :
To develop the capacity to work in a group as part of a team

Main themes

Prerequisites
Integrated exercise in Geography (I)

Theory
Introduction to the course and its objectives (1 hour) - defining the problem and themes for the case studies. The case studies will be based on specific regional themes that will change each year. This may include, for example, tourism, transport (air traffic, high speed trains, road building, etc.), migration/demography and residential housing, emerging/declining industries (manufacturing, etc.), agriculture and agri-business (glass house production, fruit production), forest cover change, the impact of land use change, water resources (industrial and agricultural consumption patterns, flooding), biogeography (ecology and landscape), land degradation.

Student work
Working in small thematic groups to identify and allocate the tasks and techniques necessary to achieve the case study objectives.
Tackling the problem - review of the literature and the study area, collection and use of available data resources, application of appropriate methods.
Discussing progress and initial results
Production of the final report.

Acquired skills:
Ability to work within a team and to contribute to the group's work
Methodological and analytical techniques
Seminar presentation skills (in English)
Report writing skills

Other credits in programs