2662.16 - Social Planning


Course number
2662.16
Title
Social Planning
ECTS
10
Prerequisites
Students must have completed the required core courses in social science (2 years), or have equivalent qualifications.
Purpose
For students to acquire knowledge and understand of social planning in a broad sense, i.e. of the approaches and processes, which through public policy contribute to intended social development, of collective decisions and values, as well as, in this sense, living conditions and socially sustainable conditions for groups and units in society. The approach is historical and comparative, grounded in theory and insight into methods in social planning research.
Content
 How planning is a natural part of social governance, for example as a democratic tool in urban and housing planning, as well as in municipal, local and regional development.  How planning is a part of culture, business and daily life in urban and rural areas, in a broad comparative (local-global) area of tension.  Theory on the interplay between structural social change and public policy, with regards to, for example, democratic participation, social mobilisation, technology, gender and power.  Methods in social planning research.
Learning and teaching approaches
The course is based on the distributed bibliography, which is examined through lectures, discussion and exercises. Furthermore, students are required to write, individually or in a group, a problem-oriented project based on an issue in planning. For the project, students are required to compile their own relevant literature, which will become part of the course bibliography. A supervisor will be assigned to each project, who also has to approve the chosen topic and research question. This project topic may be integrated with the social analysis course project.
Learning outcomes
Successful students can demonstrate ability to:  Explain key theories in planning.  Explain the historical development of planning as a discipline.  Structure, discuss and communicate knowledge about planning issues.  Problematize and define problem statements independently, collect secondary data independently, as well as translate knowledge of theories/methods into practically applicable knowledge.
Assessment method
Oral examination based on the written project and the distributed bibliography.
Marking scale
P-
Bibliography
The distributed course reading list, as well as any literature used in the project.
Contact
Súsanna Olsen