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Course Brochure

 

Learning Objectives

The structure of the course aims at achieving expertise in spatial analysis and spatial management, with a particular - yet not exclusionary - focus on urban space. This expertise rests, precisely, in the shaping of theoretical, methodological, and technical competences for the collection, systematisation, elaboration, and dissemination of socio-spatial data, as well as for the production of cartographic material through GIS.

Thematically, the curriculum pays particular attention to the ongoing complex socio-spatial transformations of cities, to the composition of holistic planning for local development, and to the enhancement of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Acknowledging the actual needs within an increasingly globalised labour market, the entire programme is taught in English, while a selection of courses is also available in Italian. The explicitly multicultural character that the Master’s seeks to maintain is essential to achieving the educational and professional skills, a process which is significantly centred on the students’ active participation in a variety of educational activities.

The master program is incardinated in the SAGAS Department, selected in 2018 by the Ministry of Education and University Research (MIUR) as a department of excellence, and annually offers scholarships for students from abroad or from outside the region of Tuscany. Furthermore, the most successful students will be offered financial prizes and the opportunity to participate in the special Interdisciplinary Higher Education Program provided annually by the Program of Excellence. The master program also promotes useful experiences for entering the job market, including internships and traineeships. The educational offer is provided in close relationship with the two geographical Laboratories located in the Department: the Laboratory of Social Geography - LaGeS ( www.lages.eu ) and the Laboratory of Applied Geography - LabGeo ( www.geografia-applicata.it ).

Finally, the master program is included in the High Education Program „Partnership for Knowledge“ of the Italian Agency for the Development Cooperation (AICS).

 

Carrier perspectives

Master’s graduates are guaranteed to acquire, at the successful conclusion of their trajectory, a professional baggage of technical and theoretical competences suitable, amongst other, for the following career paths:

  •  analysts in private or public research centres for urban and regional studies;
  • professionals in governmental institutions, either national or local, responsible for spatial management, as well as for the management of natural and cultural resources, in Italy or abroad
  • professionals in international institutions and NGOs active in the wider field of international cooperation
  • analysts in institutions and organisations specialised in the elaboration, production, and dissemination of geographical and cartographic information;
  • professionals in the field of geographic multimedia publishing, as well as of the dissemination and communication of environmental and touristic information;
  • eventually, graduates are offered the possibility to be qualified for geography teaching in second-grade education in Italy.

 

Program structure and organization

The principal aim that guides the entire programme is a balance between theoretical and methodological knowledge on the one hand, and technical and digital competences on the other, thus allowing graduates to comprehend, analyse, and represent the social, economic, and cultural phenomena that all together, and throughout various geographical scales, produce the spatial transformations experienced nowadays worldwide.

All academic activities are framed by an international scientific-cultural perspective, the latter materialised through a considerable contact with non-European contexts and case-studies.

The knowledge and competences acquired by the Master’s students during their course are applicable, yet not limited, to the following topics:

  • The practical application of spatial analysis projects;
  • The collection of empirical data utilising both qualitative and quantitative research methods;
  • The elaboration and organisation of geospatial information in data-bases designed specifically for spatial analysis;
  • The digital production of thematic cartography;
  • The analysis of the socio-spatial effects of policy-making across diverse scales, also in cases of international cooperation;
  • The elaboration of plans and projects for spatial development.

Moreover, the Master’s programme offers the possibility to acquire competences in geography teaching through the creation of a specialised curriculum precisely focused on geographical education.

More information on the course structure and subjects are available in the Study plan page on this website. 

Educational activities

The educational activities include lectures, seminars, and applied laboratories, while a considerable amount of teaching hours is dedicated to fieldwork visits and exercises. Given the highly participative character of the entire range of the teaching modalities, regular attendance and participation is considered important. In case of limitations to regular attendance (as, for example, in the case of working students), the programme’s teachers remain available to adapt the curricula and shape individualised ones.

Eventually, the international perspective is considerably enriched with the integration of educational activities carried out by visiting scholars coming from academic institutions from all over the world.

 

Internship and additional educational activities

Together with the academic training, the curriculum includes up to 12 ECTS to be dedicated to stage and internship activities at either public or private institutions related, in multiple ways, to spatial and regional analysis and planning, to the conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage, and to international cooperation. The internship offers are managed in collaboration with the School of Humanities and Education of the university of Florence, adhering to the established collaborations between the Master’s degree and the institutions to potentially host the internships.

Students who are interested in further advancing their own competences within the field of empirical geographical research, are offered the opportunity to carry out their stage or internship programme within the Master’s degree, precisely either by being actively involved in ongoing research projects led by professors and researchers or by proposing and advancing their own original research projects. It is possible to realise such internal internship and stage schemes at the Geography laboratories of the SAGAS Department, that is, the Laboratory of Social Geography – LaGeS (www.lages.eu), and at the Laboratory of Applied Geography – LabGeo (www.geografia-applicata.it).

On top of that, additional educational opportunities are available thanks to the involvement of the Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts (SAGAS) within the Dipartimenti di Eccellenza national funding scheme for their exceptional academic performance.

In this framework, the Master’s programme is in the privileged position of suggesting to its students special activities such as:

  • Access to the Percorso di Eccellenza, that is, a special academic scheme for second-year post-graduate students who have completed a minimum of 48 ECTS and have reached an average mark of at least 29/30. At the conclusion of the Percorso di Eccellenza, each participant is rewarded with the amount of 1.000 euros.
  • Funding for the organisation of scientific exhibitions and seminars based on initiatives brought forward by the students of the SAGAS Department.

Moreover, since 2023 has been activated a postgraduate course (corso di perfezionamento) in Operatori internazionali per la cooperazione e la tutela del patrimonio culturale in contesti fragili.

Last but not least, the Master’s degree is compatible with PhD programmes in the wider spatial and geographical disciplines, both in Italy and abroad.

 

 

 

Final thesis

For the successful completion of the Master’s in Geography, Spatial Management, Heritage for International Cooperation, students are requested to submit and defend a final thesis, which contributes significantly to the overall evaluation of a student’s postgraduate degree.

The entire thesis process, consisting of different interconnected stages, can be conceived of as a practice through which the student, in collaboration with their Advisor (Relatore in Italian) and Co-Advisor (Correlatrice-ore or Controrelatrice-ore in Italian), consolidates in one extended (written) product all the knowledge acquired during the entire post-graduate programme.

In order to provide all the necessary information regarding the entire process of conceiving of, designing, developing, submitting, and finally discussing a Master’s thesis in Geography, thesis guidelines are available at this link

 

Tutoring services

Throughout the master program, the enrolled students receive tutoring services, which provide support and guidance for the orientation in the formulation of the study plan, for laboratory activities, for international mobility, for the choice of internships and traineeships, through delegates with experience on the specific functions.

Last
update

22.01.2024

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