Blended
Course Managing Public Space: Time and Scale
Are you looking for ways of dealing smartly and strategically with complex challenges in the management of public space on different scale levels? Are you challenged by the mutual dependencies of daily management and maintenance, area development and long-term asset replacement? Are you looking for an integrated approach to management and maintenance? Would you like to broaden and deepen your knowledge and skills and exercise in a real-world context, and do you enjoy collaborating with master students? Then this course is something for you!
The first three weeks have two blended study days; the fourth week will comprise an intensive 4-day workshop (see Practical information below).
Why follow this course?
You will learn to understand complex challenges from different perspectives, and to develop approaches in different contexts, rather than being offered ready-made solutions.
After successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Understand managing public space in the context of time, scale, and disciplines
- Analyse above ground and underground objects and infrastructures and their life cycles from a systems perspective
- Design integrated solutions for management challenges, while dealing with complexity and uncertainty
- Evaluate and reflect on possible solutions for dealing with time and scale in managing public space from different perspectives
- Demonstrate boundary-crossing competences in an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary context
- Integrate theoretical perspectives from students with your practical knowledge and experience while dealing with time and scale in managing public space
Is this course for you?
This course is designed for a blend of two groups: professionals acquainted with the management of public space with a BSc level by working experience or study, and master students with a background in planning or design. Professionals and students collaborate in this course in small interdisciplinary teams.
Participants are expected to be professionals active in the field of management of the public space and to be proficient English users in speaking and writing (CEFR level C1). Not sure about your level of English? Contact the programme manager or course leader.
Programme & topics
This blended 4 week course includes lectures, exercises, group work, field work, presentations, personal reflection and a symposium.
Topics:
- Operational, tactical, and strategic management
- Scale levels from project and neighbourhood to region
- Lifecycle management
- Systems approach
- Relations between underground and above ground systems
- Dealing with uncertainty, temporality, flexibility
- Assessment frameworks
Professionals participate in the course parttime, except for the last week, when a full time intensive workshop is planned. A detailed schedule and location of the classes (campus, online or fieldwork) will be added to the course flyer.
The course consists of different components.
Week 1-3 Theory & methods
A series of online lectures will provide you with theories and methods, which you will apply in short group exercises.
Week 1-3 ‘Reflecting on practices’
You will team up with one or more students to analyze your daily practice from a theoretical and methodological point of view. You will discuss what hampers alternative approaches, and what would be needed to make changes. You will also discuss your daily practices with your professional colleagues in the course.
Week 4 Intensive workshop – full time
In the last week, you can apply all knowledge and skills acquired in the previous weeks in a real-life case. You will work in small mixed teams, integrating innovation processes and research. Public and private stakeholders will introduce you to the area and join your discussions during the week. You will also present the outcomes to the stakeholders.
Week 1-4 Personal development
In this course you will collaborate with people from different backgrounds in terms of discipline, culture and context. The course enables you to (further) develop your boundary crossing competences, which you will reflect upon. You will also reflect upon integrating gained knowledge and skills in your daily practice.
Please contact the programme manager or course leader for more information.
Practical information
Please take the following information into account and into your planning. The estimated study load is approximately 80 up to 90 hours. This includes:
- Full day sessions on Mondays (on campus and at your own work place in week 3)
- Online sessions on Thursday morning and Friday morning in week 1 and 2
- Presentations on campus on Thursday the 9th of March
- Week 4 will comprise an intensive full time workshop on campus, from March 13 till March 17
Final presentations are scheduled on Friday the 17th of March.
Please download the flyer for more information and a detailed program of the course.
This course has been developed by experts of Wageningen University in collaboration with the Stichting Managing Public Space. The course is part of a series of three courses, which can be followed separately.
Coordinated by
More information & registration
You can register for this course or download the flyer. Questions? Contact Wageningen Academy.
After completing this course you receive micro-credentials. Micro-credentials certify the learning outcomes of short-term learning experiences, marking the quality of a course. Read more about micro-credentials.