Undergraduate in Geography and Spatial Planning

Information

More in: ULPGC oficial page

Documents

B.O.E.

Verification report

Evaluation report

Authorisation of the Government of the Canary Islands

Decision of the Secretariat for Universities of the MECD*

Information about the Faculty and its degree courses in the Registry of Universities, Centres and Degree Courses

Documents

Course flyer

Leaflet “Historiador”

Promotional video on Youtube

Brochure of Degree Courses on Issuu

Justification

The Geography plays a major role in the current context of vocation and the need for interdisciplinary scientific collaboration, particularly as regards the applied science. The centrality of the territory in geographic studies identifies Geography and, at the same time, it becomes a scientific relations interface. This shows that Geography have been changing to adapt to the labour market.

The geographers of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (hereinafter ULPGC) participated in the elaboration of the White Paper, assuming their criteria and recommendations, which have been adapted to the Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Spatial Planning. This Faculty and the Department of Geography of the ULPGC have worked together to develop this project on the basis of teaching geographic studies since 1993.

In the White Paper, Geography is presented as a territorial science, and also as an environmental and social discipline, encompassing both theoretical and practical approach. Geography contributes to the understanding of areas in diverse scopes of analysis and comprises methods from other sciences such as architecture, law, economics, history, sociology, and natural science, enhancing diagnosis and intervention proposals. Spatial Planning includes its practical application.

The studies in Geography have been taught in the Faculty of Geography and History of the ULPGC since 1983 (although it was a College depending on the University of La Laguna). Since then, the Faculty educational offer has attempted to respond to requests from a society that has undergone significant changes. Thus, this course is taught at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria since 1989. During these years, educational offer has also responded to changes of the university legislation. The teaching of studies in Geography was included in the degree course in Geography and History until 1993, when it was divided into two degrees, which are the same degree courses that are currently available.

Geographers have good records of employability because of their adaptability to work for both government agencies and private organisations. They used to work in the teaching field (at all levels) and in basic and applied researches. However, they have adapted to the current global and dynamic labour market, including spatial planning, urban planning, landscape intervention, patterns of mobility, and heritage resources planning. Geographers also work in fields such as local Agenda 21, geographic information systems, demographic and migration analysis, geomarketing, and spatial and housing planning.

The professional competences of geographers and the Spanish Association of Geographers (http://www.geografos.org/) is regulated by the Act 2/1974, of 13 February, on Professional Associations, and by the Act 16/1999, of 4 May, on the establishment of the Spanish Association of Geographers, with over 30 years of history. This course allows students to study and analyse all issues related to diverse professional profiles, such as applied geographic research, teaching, spatial planning, municipal and mobility management (Madrid Ruiz, F.J.; 2002: Geógrafos, formación y empleo, AGE, available at http://age.ieg.csic.es/boletin/33/3311.pdf).

This course provides geographers with professional training to work in fields related to Geography and Spatial Planning, and the physical, economic, and social thereof, as well as its political organisation. Geographers should have a rigorous, flexible, and interdisciplinary education, which should adapt to diverse territorial issues that are being demanded on today’s labour market. The Manifesto New Culture of the Territory has proved that the recognition of Geography in society is of key importance. It has been an initiative created by a group of professionals and academics related to spatial planning and urban planning and geographers, meeting in Barcelona on 8 March 2006. Because of the relationship between the content of such manifesto and the competences of geographers, ten principles, criteria, and priorities demonstrating the importance of geographers are set out below (available at http://www.geografos.org/iniciativas/nueva-cultura-del-territorio/235-manifiesto-por-una-nueva-cultura-del-territorio.html):

1. Territory is a non-renewable, essential, and limited natural resource.
2. Territory is complex and fragile.
3. Territory has an environmental, cultural, and inherited value that should not be limited to the price of land.
4. A well-managed territory is itself a major economic factor.
5. Territorial and urban planning are essential to the public authorities.
6. The primary objective of urban planning should be to facilitate the access to housing.
7. Territorial planning should provide basic agreements on the layout of infrastructures, the development of human settlements, and the organisation of open spaces.
8. The Government and the Cortes Generales cannot ignore territorial issues.
9. Territorial management should take into account the concepts of solidarity and global responsibility.
10. The promotion of environmental sustainability, economic efficiency, and social equality requires a new culture of the territory.

 

This Manifesto has been developed due to the spatial planning in Spain, especially the urbanisation process on unsuitable lands on a massive scale, which causes negative effects on natural resources. These effects have harmful consequences on the quality of life, but they could be avoided with a better management of the territory. The professional recognition of geographers, and other professionals, is fundamental for achieving a better knowledge and management of the territory.

In February 2008, the Spanish Association of Geographers presented a study entitled ‘Professional profiles of geographers in Spain,’ which was conducted by ‘GfK Group Emec Ad Hoc Research’ (http://www.geografos.org/iniciativas/observatorio-de-la-profesión.html). The conclusions thereof are listed below:

1. The main fields of work are Territorial and Urban Planning (28%), Geographical Information Technologies (22%), and Natural Environment (19%).
2. Fields most indicated are Territorial and Urban Planning (62%), Natural Environment (59%), and Territorial and Socioeconomic Development (48%). Likewise, there are more geographers working for private organisations than for government agencies (69% and 39% respectively).
3. Projects most indicated of the diverse fields of work are: Town and regional strategic planning (80%) for Territorial and Socioeconomic Development. Environmental Impact: studies, audits, and assessments (69%) for Natural Environment. Territorial Planning: elaboration, management, and assessment of public services (71%) for Territorial and Urban Planning. Geographical Information Systems (GIS): definition, development, implementation, and management (95%) for Geographical Information Technologies. Continuing education and non-formal education (54%) for Knowledge society.

Objectives

The Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Spatial Planning of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has the same objectives (chapter 10) and competences (chapter 6-8) as established in the White Paper, as well as those general objectives determined in the Spanish Order on the organisation and planning of official university education (Order 1393/2007 29 October, Annex 1, section 3.2).

The core objectives of the Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Spatial Planning are the following:

1. To ensure a general training on the main contents of the diverse fields of Geography, the epistemological development and the research methods thereof.
2. To ensure that students are able to put theoretical, methodological, and instrumental knowledge into practice, make comprehensive analyses, interpret spatial issues and processes, and make territorial diagnoses.
3. To interpret the territorial diversity and complexity, and the interrelations of environmental phenomena with economic, social, and cultural phenomena.
4. To interrelate phenomena at diverse territorial scales, specifically in Spatial Planning.
5. To ensure that students are able to take part in the management of territory by drawing on their training in geography.
6. To ensure that students are able to conduct territorial management proposals, as well as proposals on the location of services and economic activities.
7. To develop the specific skills related to work techniques, particularly those related to the collection, analysis, processing, and representation of geographical information and fieldwork.
8. To relate and synthesise cross-cutting territorial information in order to understand the proposals of other specialists.
9. To ensure that students are able to present their geographical knowledge and to understand geographical issues from a multidimensional approach.
10. To ensure that the necessary knowledge to teach geography at secondary education centres is given, in accordance with the current legislation.
11. To enable graduates to take postgraduate or specialisation courses in which territorial approach is essential.

The scientific contributions of Geography to Spatial Planning tend to focus on a comprehensive and integrating approach of physical, natural, socioeconomic, or cultural elements of the territory. At different spatial scales (regional and local) and at different approaches (demographic, economic, environmental, or political), spatial planning can be related to three basic ideas, which constitute essential objectives of the course, ensuring that students are able to:

1. Establish the field that should be managed.
2. Identify the territorial structures and systems.
3. Distinguish the elements that should be managed from a different perspective.

Competences

University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

• To express oneself respectfully and properly to different audiences (clients, contributors, promoters, social partners, etc.), by using the most appropriate means of communication (especially the new information and communication technologies) in order to understand interests, needs, and concerns of other people and organisations. To express clearly the sense of their mission and the manner they may contribute with their skills and professional knowledge to meet those interests, needs, and concerns.
• To cooperate with other persons and organisations to conduct roles and tasks of their professional profile, developing a reflective attitude of their own professional skills and knowledge, and developing an understanding attitude towards other’s skills and knowledge.
• To contribute to the continuous improvement of their career and the organisations in which they work by taking part in research, development, and innovation processes./li>
• To engage in the development of professional practices that respect human rights and ethical standards of their career in order to build trust in the beneficiaries and obtain the legitimacy and the authority recognised by the society.
• To participate in the creation of a democratic society which decide their own future and has values to allow human development, cohabitation, and social justice.

Personal competences

1. General competences

• Knowledge of and ability to implement the scientific method.
• Ability to analyse and summarize.
• Critical thinking.
• Ability to resolve problems and make decisions.
• Creativity and initiative.
• Knowledge of the principles and implications of professional ethics.

2. Specific competences

• Knowledge of the history and thoughts of geography.
• Knowledge of the regional geography.
• Knowledge of the human, economic, and social geography.
• Knowledge of the physical and environmental geography and ability to relate them to human activities.
• Knowledge of the development of different geographic units and ability to analyse and intervene on the basis of their peculiarities with the methods of regional geographic analysis.
• Knowledge of the theories, provisions, and practices of spatial planning.
• Knowledge of the theories for land interpretation and the explanations of territorial diversity.
• Ability to combine general and specialised analysis, interrelating events at different territorial levels.
• Ability to relate, summarize, organise, and plan territorial information.
• Knowledge of theories, rules and practices of planning.
• Knowledge of the general diachronic structure of the past.

Systemic competences

1. General competences

• Ability to work in (intra- and interdisciplinary) teams.
• Ability to work in international contexts.
• Leadership skills.
• Ability to adapt to changing situations.
• Motivation for rigour and quality.
• Knowledge of and sensitivity to human rights and inequalities.
• Knowledge of and sensitivity to cultural diversity.
• Environmental awareness.

2. Specific competences

• Methods of geographic information.
• Methodologies for the knowledge of the land and fieldwork.
• Methodology for the geographic research.

Instrumental competences

1. General competences

• Ability to self-learning.
• Ability to plan and organise projects.
• Ability to use theoretical knowledge.
• Skills in oral and written communication in their native language (with experts and non-experts).
• Knowledge of a foreign language.
• Knowledge of computing.
• Ability to manage information.

2. Specific competences

• Ability to use the geographic information as an instrument for land interpretation.
• Ability to teach, disseminate, and raise awareness towards geographic and territorial issues.
• Ability to combine temporal and spatial dimension to explain socio-territorial processes.
• Ability to relate and summarize cross-cutting territorial information.
• Ability to manage the idealization of services and activities.
• Ability to interrelate and identify territorial events and issues at different levels for management and planning.
• Ability to manage cartographic information.
• Ability to elaborate and interpret statistical information.

Other competences

1. General competences

• Ability to analyse, interpret, and manage landscapes.

2. Specific competences

• Ability to design and manage projects.

Prospective students

Students interested in the Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Spatial Planning match two main profiles. On the one hand, those students who just have finished Bachillerato (social and legal sciences subjects) and intend to perform a profession related to Geography and/or the knowledge and skills acquired at the university. On the other hand, older people (between 25 and 50 years old) who work, have a degree course in engineering, are unemployed or want to improve their knowledge of Geography and Spatial Planning.

The students of geography should be interested in ecological, human, and territorial aspects, be aware of natural and human spatial issues and the solutions thereof; they should also have concerns about the environment, landscape organisation, and interactions of human activities with territorial elements. Moreover, they should express their initiative to study the subjects with natural, social, and economic approach; they should also be prepared to work in teams and interested in the new geographical technologies. They should have a flexible and innovative attitude and a creative spirit. The Spanish Order 1467/2007, of 2 November, which establishes the structure of Spanish secondary education and set their minimum training, states various objectives for the different geography subjects (page 81, BOE 266, of 6 November 2007) that coincide with basic profiles that we consider necessary; particularly objectives number 1, 2, and 6.

Graduate students

Employment opportunities correspond to the new demands of the current society. Likewise, professional profiles can be defined as follows:

• Environmental management: environmental impact assessment (individual projects, plans, and programmes), protected areas planning and management, advisor on the Agenda 21 for local sustainability strategies, indices of natural resources, prevention of natural hazards, disasters management, and environmental audits.
• Territorial, rural, and urban planning: elaboration, management, and assessment of territorial and urban planning elements, landscape studies, location of equipment and activities, sustainable transport, spatial planning, housing supply and demand studies.
• Socioeconomic and territorial development: strategic local and regional planning, elaboration and processing of territorial information, territorial delimitation, urban studies for the development of public policies, planning and management of tourism, cultural heritage management, impact of economic activities studies, local development and employment initiatives, management of public participation in territorial planning, socio-demographic and immigration studies, population projections, commercial areas planning, geomarketing and market researches.
• Geographical information technologies: definition, development, launch, and management of geographical information systems, thematic cartography, development and management of territorial databases and indicators, development of territorial information systems with tools for remote sensing, satellite images, aerial photography, digital models, or digital cartographic standards.

There is a comprehensive analysis on the professional opportunities for Geography students, with a study on employability at national level, in the chapter 3 and 4 of the White Paper (2003-2005). Such studies show a high labour demand and employability of the graduates in Geography. Likewise, an optimism is stated in the White Paper once the degree is adapted to the EHEA. This is also the view of the students of the Faculty of Geography and History of the ULPGC, taking social, economic, and demographic fabric into account.

In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor publishes data on employability of the American geographers. The reports highlight that the labour market demands professionals in cartography, geographical information system analysis, geographical information, and urban and regional planning (see the document entitled “Geography jobs” carried out by Olivia Crosby and published by the BLS in “Ocuppational Outlook Quarterly-2005”, available athttp://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2005/spring/art01.htm). Likewise, the employability of geographers in Europe is increasing, particularly in the United Kingdom. We have found in Trovit more than a hundred of jobs for graduates in Geography. Such jobs are related to territorial planning, geomarketing, GIS technologies and analyses, and education (available at http://jobs.trovit.co.uk/jobs/geography-graduate).

The Spanish Association of Geographers provides annually more than two hundred job vacancies at a national level (available at http://www.geografos.org). Likewise, geographers’ professional profiles reports (2003, 2008, and 2013) are available at http://www.geografos.org/iniciativas/observatorio-de-la-profesión.html). Such reports allow them to identify and analyse the development of geographers’ professional profiles in Spain, which can be summarised as follows:

• Five areas of work: Territorial and Urban Planning, Environmental Management, Territorial Development, Geographical Information Technologies, and Knowledge Society.
• The diversity of the professional Geographers and the types of projects.
• Diverse jobs in private firms.

The insularity and isolation of the Canary Islands increases the need of developing such studies, taking the influence of the ULPGC in the province of Las Palmas, where people have to use means of transport by land, water and air. However, these types of mobility are subsidized for university students by local, island, and community government institutions. Likewise, the student exchange programmes with other archipelagos such as Cape Verde and Madeira deserve to be highlighted.

Expected results

Education indicators provide us with relevant data in order to determine the strategies and actions that allow us to improve the quality of education processes.

The proposal of the Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Spatial Planning considers the results of these statistics as a reference to improve and adapt the current and future teaching methods.

• Graduation rate: it is the number of students who graduated within the time published in the curriculum or one more academic year regarding their cohort.
• Dropout rate: it is the percentage between the number of students of an entry-level cohort obtaining their diplomas the previous year and the number of students that not enrolling in that academic year or the previous one.
• Efficiency rate: it is the percentage between the total number of credits in the curriculum graduates of a specific academic year should have enrolled in and the total number of credits they really had to enrol in.

Complete quality indicators

The results are really good in all indicators. However, this Faculty decided to take some actions in order to improve this course:

1. To encourage the role of the departments and their Teaching Committees, together with the Committee on Teaching of History, in teaching coordination.
2. To encourage the mobility of our students and the importance of improving their language skills (particularly in English) in order to ensure an appropriate participation in the European exchange and educational programmes.
3. To support students participation in governing bodies of the Faculty.
4. To encourage students to develop extra-curricular training in workshops, volunteer projects and international cooperation, university cultural activities, etc.

All quality indicators

Course outline

The organisation of the Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Spatial Planning of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is based on the proposal established in the White Paper. Following the guidelines set up by the Spanish Order 1393/2007, of 29 October, which establishes the organisation of the official university courses and by the Regulations which establish the official courses of the ULPGC, the Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Spatial Planning is of a general nature and is considered as a training aimed at working in the appropriate professional opportunities. The structure of the Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Spatial Planning of the ULPGC is based on a general framework established by the Faculty of Geography and History. This general framework aims to encourage the cross-cutting nature and improve teaching, according to the criteria of the ULPGC and the Government of the Canary Islands.

The organisation of the subjects follows the guidance described in the White Paper on Geography, implementing the agreements reached by all universities in Spain under the auspices of the ANECA. The training programme of the Bachelor’s Degrees implements a cross-cutting nature, with competences for each subject following the recommendations and guidelines in the White Paper on Geography and Spatial Planning.

The organisation of the course is based on two aspects:

1. The Committee on Teaching, a key body presided over by the Dean and which, according to the Statutes of the ULPGC, approved by Spanish Order 30/2003, of 10 March, is formed by 60% of lecturers, which represent every core subject or a minimum of 5% of participation in the course, and 40% of students, with representation from each course.
2. The course coordinators.
3. The tutors (coordinated by the Tutorial Action Committee).

The Quality Assurance Committee monitors compliance of the process and development of the course, by means of institutional mechanisms for monitoring and improvement. The Committee on Teaching also examines the teaching results after each semester, proposing improvements to curriculum and teaching monitoring mechanisms.

The areas are organised following the structure established by the White Paper:

1. Theory and methods on Geography give students knowledge of basic concepts on Geography and the main geographic research and reflection methods (12 ECTS, 5% of total credits, as recommended in the White Paper).
2. Three subjects for Physical, Regional, and Human Geography with 18 ECTS (7.5% of total credits for each subject). They provide teaching on natural and human components of land, factors and processes with a territorial impact on time or spatial scales. A total of 54 ECTS credits, 22.5%.
3. The practical and applied approach of this course proposed by the ULPGC is oriented by two branches. ‘Techniques for processing and analysing geographic information’ accounts for 42 ECTS credits, 17.5% compared to 24% that the White Paper proposes. This Faculty supports the instrumental techniques and the new information technologies, particularly the geographical information systems together with the theoretical bases, divided between several subjects. In the last year of the course, students must undertake a Work Placement (18 ECTS credits, 7.5% as recommended by the White Paper on Geography and Spatial Planning). These Work Placements allow students to conduct professional training as part of the course, following the European models.
4. The area ‘Spatial Planning’ accounts for 42 ECTS credits (17.5%, the White Paper recommends 24 ECTS credits), increasing the contents related to land development and spatial planning.
5. The optional subjects account for 24 ECTS credits (10% of total course credits). The students may undertake other optional subjects offered by the ULPGC, such as subjects from other courses or cross-cutting techniques in order to complement their training.
6. The Final Project is conducted in the last year and represents 6 ECTS credits (2.5% of total course credits).

Training on the topics and values set out by the Spanish Order 1393/2007 (article 3, section 5), referring to human rights, democracy, peace, and gender equality, are included in many subjects of this course. This distribution is detailed in the syllabus of each subject; however, an optional subject that accounts for 2.5% of total course credits has been included.

Students must achieve the equivalent of 240 ECTS credits in at least 4 academic years, which usually implies 60 ECTS credits per year. The curriculum is divided into subjects throughout the course. These subjects have specific objectives and competences, by which the content and its training programmes and evaluation mechanisms are determined. There are basic, compulsory, and optional subjects; students must also conduct a Work Placement and a Final Project. Each subject represents 6 ECTS credits. The academic year is divided into two semesters; students should read 5 subjects in each semester.

An optional subject includes cross-cutting training (6 ECTS), which consists in activities established by the Spanish Order and which are referred in the section 2.3 (participation in management, university collaborations, cultural training, courses on equality of opportunities, European training and knowledge, sports, participation in governing bodies, etc.). It is also established in the Regulations for Degree Courses of the ULPGC.

The Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Spatial Planning is organised into branches of knowledge and subjects. The branches are set out in the table below, seven of which correspond to Geography.

Table 1. Branches of knowledge

Table 2. Organisation of branches of knowledge by semesters

Table 3. Organisation of subjects by semesters

Syllabuses

First Year

Second Year

Third Year

Fourth Year

Work placements

Work placements is a subject that aims to give students practical experiences related to the knowledge acquired during the course, which gives students a first-hand impression of the day-to-day working environment and the opportunity to gain some experience. All work placements are designed to allow students to gain professional experience in real-life situations, using the knowledge, competences, and attitude gained in training processes during the course. Work placements are also a vital opportunity for personal and professional development of our students.

Work placements are fixed-term periods of work experience undertaken by students in companies, institutions, and organisations; that is, in centres outside the University, where students should improve their training and gain knowledge in the field of study.

Training project on work placements of the Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Spatial Planning

All centres have material resources and experienced staff, which may be confirmed through their links, to ensure the appropriate development and tutorship of the work placements of this degree course. There are agreements signed between the ULPGC and all respective entities. These entities have universal accessibility and design that guarantees for all students the development of all training activities included in the Work placements.

The list of entities that collaborates with the Work placements is updated annually, after consultation and analysis process of data provided by the surveys and the opinions of the interest groups (academic and external tutors and students) on the experience of the work placements.

Final Project

‘The subject consisting on doing a dissertation, conducted by students, according to their field of study and under academic tutorship’ is considered as the Final Project (hereafter the FP), under the General Regulations for the Elaboration and Assessment of Final Projects, approved by the Council of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on 29 June 2011 and published in the BOULPGC no. 7 of 4 July 2011, and in accordance with the Statutes of the ULPGC.

• The FP is one of the more important learning activities of the curriculum. On the one hand, students can have insight knowledge of a topic in which they are interested. On the other hand, this FP allows students to develop essential competences and abilities, such as planning processes, solve problems, analyse and interpret results, or defending proposals, etc.
• The FP consists of planning, conducting, presenting, and defending an academic work on a specific topic related to the field of study. Its purpose is to promote the use of the abilities and knowledge acquired in all other subjects, as well as to facilitate the development of relevant competences. The FP may have a theoretical and/or applied orientation. Therefore, it should have the same structure as a scientific work and deals with any of the topics studied during the degree.
• The FP shall be done under the guidance of a tutor, who will guide and help the students at every stage of the work

The objectives of the Final Project

The objectives of the Final Project are:

• To go into detail about a topic concerning the orientations and professional profiles of this degree course.
• To know and apply the principles and methodologies of research: documentation, information and data collection, analysis, and interpretation, presentation of conclusions, and development of work.
• To apply the abilities and knowledge acquired in the field of study during the degree course.

Competences of the Final Project

• To apply the acquired knowledge and competences in order to solve specific problems in the field of study or research.
• Ability to solve problems within new environments concerning wider contexts (multidisciplinary) in the field of study.
• To communicate the conclusions (and knowledge and reasons that support them) clearly.
• To have learning capacities that allow students to undertake self-directed learning.
• To have and understand the knowledge that allows them to be originals when developing or applying ideas within a field of research.
• To implement basic research techniques related to the fields set out in the curriculum.
• To manage information adequately.
• To apply procedures and technologies for managing the information and documentation.
• To design and manage projects.

Links to:

FP: Methodological Guide, 2013.
General Regulations for the Elaboration and Assessment of Final Projects
Documentation

Academic Staff 2014-2015

Adaptations