The student will acquire specific knowledge in the following fields: - Knowledge of concepts, policies and tools for the conservation of environmental resources and the landscape (international conventions and national frameworks), with particular reference to spatial policies; - ability to set up an analytical framework for the identification and understanding of values and critical aspects of a given environment related to land uses; - knowledge of planning and management strategies for the preservation and enhancement of natural and urban environments (protective designations, park planning, landscape planning, open space planning and such); - ability to identify appropriate environmental assessment methods and procedures, and to use them. The proposed activities entail a plurality of theoretical and practical skills, including landscape character assessment; environmental indicator calculation and representation, reading and interpretation of planning tools; problem-solving and future scenario envisioning.

The knowledge and skills that the students are expected to have acquired in the previous training mainly concern territorial governance and institutional system of planning and territorial analyses. In addition, an essential ability to use GIS is required, which - besides being a prerequisite to attend this MSc - can be acquired by attending the course Geomatics for Urban and Regional Analysis.

The course is organized into four modules, namely: A) Concepts, Paradigms, Approaches. Reconstruction of the theoretical framework and identification of key concepts (nature, environment, landscape, wilderness, ecosystem services, ecology, environmental resources, sustainability and resilience). B) Knowledge and Assessment. Environmental analyses. Suitability. Landscape ecology, connectivity and ecological networks. Environmental assessment. Ecosystem services and environmental indicators. Landscape assessment. Soil sealing and land taking. Impact, mitigation, compensation, avoidance. C) Protection. Conservation policies, strategies and planning tools. International bodies and conventions. Protected areas: typology, mission, role of management and challenges. Environmental ethics. Landscape protection and regulation. D) Planning. Park planning, park management. Landscape policies and planning. Water-sensitive planning. Rural planning. Urban Agriculture. Green infrastructure and nature-based solutions. Climate resilience planning. The above listed topics which will be dealt with by lectures, seminars, and practical exercises.

Students are invited to take the Intercultural competence and global citizenship Test. http://iddresources.org/gle/introtoic/index.html

The course is organized into four parts, corresponding to the four modules described in the previous section. Each part consists of lectures, seminars on case studies, and student exercises. Lectures, seminars, and site visits (as further methodological insights into the planning practice) make up most of the program; a third of the time is devoted to setting up and tutoring students' exercises. The exercise is a group project and it will consist of the application of GIS-based environmental indicators in an urban area; a discussion of the results and an identification of possible measures for integrating environmental concerns into spatial planning; the outcome is a report (texts, cartographies, and other graphics. A format will be provided). Students are expected to apply concepts and methodologies presented in the theoretical lectures, and to present their findings to the class, providing stimuli for a collective discussion on a given topic. They will be asked to present the exercise outcomes orally, facing a collective discussion and receiving comments from the teachers and the class. This feedback (possibly expressed through a grade) do not contribute to the final evaluation but they are intended to help students to be aware of their own work and to reframe it, if needed.

Bibliographic references will be progressively specified during the course. The basic study material (both for lectures and for exercises) will be provided through the course web portal. The introductory bibliography is the following. Main references • Brown J., Mitchell N. & Beresford M. (2005). The Protected Landscape Approach. Linking Nature, Culture and Community. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: Edited by IUCN The World Conservation Union. • Catpaisatge, Landscape and the local perspective, http://www.catpaisatge.net/monlocal/eng/index.php • Davoudi S. (2014). Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change. In: Nadin V., Hart T., Davoudi S., Webb D., Vigar G., Pendlebury J., Townshend T. (EDS.), Town and Country Planning in the UK, London: Routledge. • Dudley N. (ED.). (2008). Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. English Heritage, Natural England, et al. [2012] Planning for the environment at the neighbourhood level, Publication code: LIT 6524. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140328154245/http://cdn.environment- • MAES Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES), http://biodiversity.europa.eu/maes • Maruani T., Amit-Cohen, I., 2007, Open space planning models: A review of approaches and methods, Landscape and Urban Planning 81 (2007) 113. • Stahlscmidt, P., Swaffield, S., Primdahl, J. and Nellemann, V. (2017): Landscape Analysis. Investigating the Potentials of Space and Place. Routledge, London • Steiner F. 2008. The Living Landscape, Second Edition: An Ecological Approach to Landscape Planning. Washington, DC: Island Press. • Elmqvist T., Andersson E., Frantzeskaki N. et al. Sustainability and resilience for transformation in the urban century. Nat Sustain 2, 267273 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0250-1. Legislative and administrative references • IUCN, ECOLEX - the gateway to environmental law, https://www.iucn.org/resources/conservation-tools/ecolex • Council of Europe (2000) European Landscape Convention, Florence. • EC European Commission, Directive 2001/42/EC [Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive] • EC European Commission, Directive 2011/92/EU [Environmental Impact Assessment EIA Directive] http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/index_en.htm Other recommended resources Biodiversity Europe, https://biodiversity.europa.eu/protected-areas (Oct. 2020) • European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional/Spatial Planning (CEMAT) of the Council of Europe, 2007, Spatial development glossary, Council of Europe Publishing http://www.coe.int/t/dgap/localdemocracy/cemat/default_en.asp agency.gov.uk/LIT_6524_7da381.pdf • Gambino R. Peano A. (Eds.). (2015). Nature Policies and Landscape Policies. Towards an Alliance, Dordrecht: Springer. • OECD, Spatial Planning INstruments and the Environment (SPINE) http://www.oecd.org/environment/spine-spatial-planning-instruments-and-the-environment.htm (Oct 2018) • Priess at al. 2018, New EU-scale environmental scenarios until 2050 Scenario process and initial scenario applications, Ecosystem Services, Volume 29, Part C, February 2018, Pages 542-551, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.08.006 Puay Yok Tan (ed.), Greening Cities. Forms and Functions, Springer 2017 Turner T., 2017, Ian McHarg's ecological approach to landscape planning, in Landscape Architecture LAA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDYQiWwZcUQ • UN Habitat3, 2016, The New Urban Agenda, http://habitat3.org/the-new-urban-agenda/ • Kristensen, L.S. and Primdahl, J. (2020) Landscape strategy making as a pathway tp policy integration and involvement of stakeholders: examples from a Danish action research programme. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. Vol. 63, No. 6, 1114–1131 Extra activities • Intercultural competence and global citizenship Test. http://iddresources.org/gle/introtoic/index.html • Dunlop et al. 2000, Measuring Endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm: A Revised NEP Scale, Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 56, No. 3, pp. 425442, https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/0022-4537.00176

Lecture slides; Lecture notes;

Exam: Written test; Compulsory oral exam; Group project;

Each student’s final assessment is composed of the following criteria: a) The results of an individual test (30% of the final assessment). The individual test will be consisting in 3 open-ended questions that will take about 45 minutes. Didactic tools or materials cannot be used during the individual test. The individual test will aim to verify the knowledge of the Topics listed above (see Course Topics). A minimum grade of 18/30 is required to enter the second part, in oral form, of the exam. b) The results of a group project, consisting of a short essay and a final presentation in an oral form (30% of the final assessment). Each group will face a collective discussion and receive comments from the teachers and the class. This feedback is intended to help students be aware of their work and reframe it if needed. Students who cannot attend the class and take part in the workgroup will submit a written essay, on a topic and bibliography agreed with the teacher, at least 7 days before the exam's date. c) An individual exam (40% of the final assessment) that consists of an oral presentation that takes around 20 minutes about the discussion of one student’s choice of the topic among the Course Topics. During the examination, the students should be ready to discuss the results of the individual test and the group project. In addition to the final outcomes, the frequency, commitment, the ability to work in a group and the ability to communicate can contribute to the final grade. The work done in the classroom during the course, the interaction with teachers and the active participation in the lessons are the basis of the progressive and final evaluation.

In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.