Learning outcome

Upon completion of the course, the students should have obtained this knowledge, abilities and general competence:

• Knowledge about how our most important natural resource, land area, is managed
• Knowledge about how physical planning is organised on the municipality level
• Knowledge about the responsibilities of higher level (region, state) authrorities and their supervision of the physical planning
• Knowledge about the most important ypes of land-use pland and area categories in land-use plans
• Know the most important laws and by-laws regulating physical planning and land-use management
• Be able to participate in and be responsible for work with municipal and local land-use plans
• Be able to use GIS tools in the planning process
• Obtain knowledge and interest for public natural resource management and participate in the planning processes

Course Description

Central themes:
 Physical planning and its legal foundation
 The history and theory of social and land-use planning, planning methods, concepts and associated issues
 The practical and formal aspects of municipal planning and administration with particular emphasis on land-use planning in keeping with the Planning and Building Act, the Pollution Control Act and the Nature Biodiversity Act
 Specific land-use planning cases with an introduction to plan types and the planning process in accordance with the Planning and Building Act
 Laboratory exercises in the use of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with examples of how this can be used in land-use planning

Assessment Methods

Two graded assessments will be given: a group project assignment counts for 40% and an individual written 4-hour final examination will count for 60% of the final grade. Both parts must receive passing grades. In order to sit for the final examination, participation in the obligatory parts of the course must be approved.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean