Intellectual output 4:

Development of methodology for syllabus for the course studio

Leader: Technical University of Vienna / Research Unit of Local Planning - IFOER

The international curriculum was implemented in a networked semester internationally as a collaboration between the three universities from Skopje, Vienna and Reggio Calabria. Its outcome offers a collective synthesis of individual concepts for a sustainable city in the form of project proposals for the city of Prilep, articulated in a hypothetical strategic plan.

As a forerunner, the international consortium conducted a variety of research activities and analyzed good practices with recommendations for curriculum development in order to develop the best possible methodology implemented in this international networked syllabus. The recommendations set out the tools for the joint curriculum, tools that highlight the unique moments of overlap between different expertise and different scale of observation specific for each of the partner institutions.

Collaboration within semester implementation

Exchange 1:

Workshop / Intensive week (Study trip) – Week 4

"Intensive Week" is a concept for sharing different methods of work through theoretical analysis and an initial review of a case study. Each university operates independently and the findings and information from each partner are shared with everyone at regular intervals . This concept is a potential structure for the part of the ENABLE program that defines the event “Site visit". If circumstances allow, field trips with students from the three universities will be conducted to counter the research so far, and to predict possible locations for intervention, where strategic projects will be proposed during the semester.

Exchange 2:

Mid-term / Guest lecturers – Week 7 to 11

In the form of a midterm review, the progress of the project is presented at a crucial moment in the semester (2/3) when students begin to position their concept in specific contexts of the case study. The presented concepts and their elaborations will be intensively discussed within the three universities and will be compared subsequently. During this period, representatives of private scientific institutes in the form of guest lecturers will be present at each of the three universities where they will conduct thematic lectures.

Exchange3:

Final presentations and reports – Week 17,18

At the end of the semester, each of the universities is obliged to conduct the final presentation virtually, to which all others from the project will contribute. The results in the defined form will be posted on the online cooperation platform and will be available to other students and the public.

Participation after semester implementation

Exchange 4:

Workshop / Synthesis of the course studio - 05.2021, Reggio di Callabria, Italy

Concepts for a sustainable city in a forms of a project proposals for the the city of Prilep at the end of the course studio will be prepared in a defined form and articulated between the three universities. This form for the project output will be elaborated and structured on the Short-term joint staff training event C3: Workshops for result synthesis of the course Studio which follows the course studio implementation. Except for the teaching staff, part of the students will take part in it, as well as invited stakeholders and project partners.

Exchange 5:

Final project report - 09.2021, Prilep, North Macedonia

The final conference represents an integral presentation of the results achieved in the process of implementation of the syllabus in its synthesized form. The objectives of this event are to be presented the project aspiration and process of its implementation; additional contributions in a form of lectures complementing the topic of the project; public presentation of the fundamental strategic guidelines in a synthesized form for the study case, the city of Prilep; discuss the project outcome with the target groups in order to attain opinions, contributing to the project outcome and its future potential and promote the project objectives compiled in a form of a publication, which represents a summary of ENABLE project outcomes.

Exchange N:

Advisory board - Municipality of Prilep, North Macedonia

We see the model of sustainable cities not only in the approach offered by the institution and the student projects, but also their involvement and participation in the foreseeable future after the formal completion of the obligations to the project.

The involvement from this international group is worth extending within the local administrative procedure in order to facilitate communication of the document and strategy in all existing and future planning initiatives. Rethinking active planning documentation as well as planning documentation that are currently being developed can continue at the level of cooperation between the universities and the local government.