The objectives of this course can be summarized as follows:
a) training of experts prepared to face:
a1) the use of new technology (Computer, CAD, GIS, telematics) for the analysis, description, interpretation and evaluation of territorial and environmental transformations;
a2) Principles and techniques taking to the knowledge of the elements for recovering of historical town centers and for urban and regional requalification;
a3) Principles and techniques taking to the knowledge of the elements for the protection and enhancement of concentrated as well as diffused cultural and environmental heritage;
b) training of professionals who might be used by public administrations in the control, management and evaluation of the processes of transformation of the town and the region and in the definition/implementation of complex programs and public works, with respect in particular to the information and tools provided by the European Union and with reference to the use of EU economic resources and development policies for the European territory.
Major changes (heightened environmental issues on a planetary scale, the globalization of economic and cultural dynamics, new forms of conflict) which are affecting the demand for planning and putting a strain on the ethical foundations, disciplinary statutes, theoretical and methodological apparatus of planning itself must be taken into account when designing and educational programme in this area. These changes, in fact, are related not only the labor market and the emergence of new professional profiles, but also to the demands, the rights of citizenship and social needs to which the "culture" of planning must know how to answer.
To achieve these objectives the Course provides a set of theoretical - practical teachings aimed at the understanding of spatial phenomena and at the construction of principles and methods useful for cognitive approaches, together with practical experiments aimed at the acquisition of cultural apparatuses and operating techniques. The lines of action of these teachings include a broad range of issues and specific social science issues, related to regional and urban planning procedures and techniques. Beside the theoretical courses there are special courses pursuing actions of an experimental nature, training students directly through the action of doing. These courses are called studios focus on general issues concerning the city, the land and the environment. In these courses students see the applied experimental reasons of their own future job that will be further investigated with practical activities, through the stages periods which take place in the third year of the course.
