Issue date: 25 January 2008
Urban regeneration experts from the University of the West of England are developing a new and unique double planning degree with partners in Italy and the USA. The degree 'Urban regeneration in globalising cities: a transatlantic undergraduate planning programme' will be run collaboratively by UWE's Faculty of the Environment and Technology, the Politecnico di Milano and University of Illinois at Chicago. Students will commence study in September 2008.
The course has been awarded funding of €408,000 and $408,000 by the European Commission and the US Department for Education respectively under the ATLANTIS programme (Actions for Transatlantic links and Academic Networks for Training and Integrated Studies).
Dr Laurence Carmichael, EU Project Co-ordinator and Research Fellow in the Cities Research Centre at UWE, said, “We are very excited at the opportunities this award will offer students. The course will centre on providing students with foundation skills for critical analysis on cross-national urban planning and regeneration. Students will spend one year in Chicago and six months in Milan during the four-year course and will get an M Plan Degree from UWE and a BA in Urban and Public Affairs from the University of Illinois, Chicago. Graduates of the programme will be able to make effective contributions to the sustainable development of communities and connect global processes to local policy agendas.”
Janet Askew, Head of the School of Planning and Architecture, said, “The students who will benefit from this exchange are town planners, working towards becoming members of their profession, the Royal Town Planning Institute. The chance to work in America and Europe will give them a wonderful opportunity to understand and compare how planning is practised in other countries, and will undoubtedly offer them an advantage in the employment market when they graduate. This places the School of Planning and Architecture in a very good position to attract high quality students to its programmes and the advantages offered by such a diverse course.
“These exchanges will also enable the development of a programme of international research through workshop activities involving faculty staff from the three universities. The faculty is delighted to win this hard sought ATLANTIS funding, especially as we were awarded the maximum amount under the scheme, which only awarded funds to 25% of applicants this year.”
-ENDS-
Editors' notes
The ATLANTIS programme seeks to encourage an innovative and sustainable range of student-centred activities, in both higher education and vocational education and training, and between different regions of the European Union and the United States. In particular, the programme's transatlantic exchanges help students in the USA and the EU acquire the skills they will need to meet the challenges of the global knowledge-based economy.
Share
Share