Diedrich Sandbox

Participants should be able to:

• Understand the concept of democracy based on a dialectical approach to this meta-topic. They know how public participation and democracy are related. They are aware of contemporary democracy challenges in the context of landscape planning and urban design change and of the challenges of a ‘right to landscape’ approach.

• Develop a differentiated understanding of the concept of landscape and can relate this to the contemporary context of a pluralistic society. Students are sensitive to the different attitudes towards open space and also the disparities in access to landscape that exist among different ethnic or socioeconomic groups in many cities.

• Conduct an informed and dialectical discourse on the relationship of landscape and democracy and are able to cite and analyze examples of this in a global context.

• Critically evaluate and identify concrete situations in which democratic processes are missing from landscape decision making processes, and propose possible solutions.

• Understand, reflect and practice participatory analysis and planning process. In addition, understand the terms related to practice and how these terms are perceived by stakeholders. Are knowledgeable about the relationship of goal-setting, visioning and strategy building.

• Be knowledgeable about the relationship of goal-setting, visioning and strategy building.

• Demonstrate knowledge about the evolution and common understanding of public participation. Students can relate this concept to major directions of contemporary planning theory. They have developed a critical perspective and are aware of the potentials and limits of various models of participation (ladder (Arnstein) and wheel of participation (Davidson).

• Demonstrate knowledge about the evolution and the contemporary understanding of the concepts of community and identity. Students should be able to relate these concepts to planning practice. This includes a critical reflection on the role of the planner (as ‘expert’). Through understanding the principles they can reflect on their own values as a planner ('expert').

• Relate context to personal community and space. They can select the most adequate methods and tools to be applied in specific challenges requiring participatory processes, understand a range of participatory planning activities, and the importance of matching techniques to community.

• Know common communication tools supporting participatory processes as well as different examples of participatory processes and how methods and tools are applied in practice. Have a gestalt of this and can practice participatory transformation.

• Understand, practice and reflect of participatory goal setting, Knowing the relevance of goal setting and visioning in transformative practice. Have the ability to move from individual to collective goals, and identify with common goals.

• Evaluate in a collaborative way and set an agenda for the future.

• Be knowledgeable about and have the ability to discuss the Landscape and Democracy using an agreed upon vocabulary employed by practitioners and researchers in landscape, democracy and public participation.