Type of course

Obligatory prerequisites

Course content

The study programme differentiates between urban, landscape, and territorial practices. This differentiation enables three different perspectives to be added to the spectrum of human activities, which directly affect arctic/subarctic landscapes. The focus on such practices underscores how humans actively influence and shape landscapes through different activities.

Even though the three perspectives mentioned above overlap to a certain degree, they are thematized and divided into separate studio courses. This studio will have its focus on Landscape Practices.

Landscape practices can, among other things, be connected to recreational use of landscapes, the cultivation of landscapes, raw material extraction and other uses of natural resources, as well as the adaptation and design of landscapes in connection with major construction projects. The concept of landscape practices incorporates the continual transformation of landscapes, how different landscapes practices have replaced each other or developed over time in response to new forms of landscape use.

Central to this course is a discussion of the culture-nature binary and different perspectives on nature, including issues connected to the idea of the Anthropocene as a new geological epoch. This discussion is essential in relation to the understanding of the landscape in the Arctic/subarctic, characterized by human use over generations, but which is now increasingly shaped by new types of activities and influenced by humans' impact on global climate and global nutrient cycles.

The intention of the course is to challenge its participants to study and evaluate existing landscape practices, as well as develop new ones, that can help support our ambition of sustainable development in the field.

Objectives of the course

After passing the course, the students will have obtained the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge:

• Specific knowledge about the relationship between perspectives on nature and landscape practices.
• General knowledge about landscapes in arctic/subarctic areas and landscapes ongoing transformation which follows from shifting practices.
• Knowledge of nature restoration and ecological restoration.
• Understanding of landscape architecture’s role in relation to landscape practices and the ambition of sustainable societal development.

Skills:

• The ability to analyze landscape with the view to identify how they are impacted and formed through different landscape practices.
• The ability to develop landscape architectural responses to issues connected to landscape practices through design research.
• The ability to incorporate and apply one’s own observations and experiences to qualify landscape architectural project proposals.
• The ability to incorporate and apply basic knowledge about biodiversity and ecosystems to qualify landscape architectural project proposals.
• The ability to convey landscape architectural intentions in a manner that expresses empathy and understanding for the relevant landscape.

General Competence:

• The ability to independently apply knowledge and skills, and to a significant degree, facilitate one’s own work process.
• The ability to describe the issues with a significant degree of complexity.
• The ability to collaborate with others in the field and, to a significant degree, take responsibility for one’s own and others’ learning.
• The ability, to a significant degree, to reflect critically upon landscape architecture’s societal relevance and the potential role of the landscape architect.

Language of instruction and examination

Teaching methods

Information to incoming exchange students

This course is open to exchange students from the following universities:

• University of Toronto
• Ecole Nationale Superieure du Paysage de Versailles
• Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
• The University of Calgary
• Aalto University
• Aarhus School of Architecture

Availability will vary from semester to semester

Admission requirements are based on the following:"Admission Requirements". Portfolio requirements are similar for exchange students and program students. Please send your portfolio by 31st October to the following email address: kunstakademiet@umak.uit.no Note that an approved portfolio is required for admission.

Questions about the study programme?