After successful completion of the course, students are able to critically evaluate strategies, objectives, instruments and projects of integrated, sustainable and resilient spatial development, to recognize current challenges of spatial development as well as of planning activities and to reflect on different planning approaches that pursue integrated approaches. Furthermore, students deepen their competence to deal with different objectives, concepts, institutional arrangements, instruments and processes of integrated development planning across disciplines and to be able to analyze and apply them at different scales. The teaching of different approaches promotes the ability to innovate as well as the recognition of inter- and transdisciplinary contexts in order to be able to comprehensively deal with planning tasks. The students learn to formulate their own positions in dialogue, to concretize them on the basis of specific analysis or planning areas and to transfer them into their own approaches to solutions, taking into account current challenges. By working in small groups with individual focal points, both self-organization and the ability to work in a team are promoted.

In view of the changes in spatial governance and planning and in the context of complex transformation processes, the course deals with strategies of integrated, sustainable and resilient spatial development. The concepts of "strategy" and "spatial development" are dealt with against the background of spatial, social and political-administrative conditions using concrete examples and thus the conception of strategies, decision-making and participation processes are critically questioned. There is an in-depth examination of the challenges, problems and solution approaches of integrated development planning, which draws on a wide range of possible planning instruments. In an action- and practice-oriented approach, an in-depth examination of objectives, concepts, institutional arrangements and processes of integrated development planning takes place, taking into account various specialized planning at different scale levels.

The contents are taught via lecture exercises with active involvement of the students. The application of the theoretical approaches and concepts presented will be developed, practiced and reflected upon using practical examples and case studies. Work is done both individually and in groups. Knowledge production is forced through plenary sessions.

The assessment of performance is based on the submission of a research article written in group work on a subject dealt with in the course. A research question on the respective subject should be developed and answered by the student independently. Mandatory Prerequisites: None. 

Basic knowledge of municipal and regional development planning is expected.