Wageningen University and Research Center

This course familiarizes students with the theory and methodology of planning for urban quality of life. The course activities include theory lectures and a practical group assignment. The theory lectures focus on selected aspects of quality of life relevant to urban and regional planning. The group assignment focuses on analyzing and designing the regional spatial organization and building spatial scenarios for the future spatial development of a region. The assignment and related instruction lectures familiarize students with methods for prospective and projective scenario study. The methods and techniques are applied in the context of an urban region in the Netherlands. The overall planning task for the assignment is to develop an integrated spatial vision, scenarios, and strategies for the region for the long term (30 years) that can support the discussion about the future development of the region.  The assignment addresses some selected topics, while each group can choose its own focal issues. The main emphasis is on practicing methods and techniques for analyzing and designing spatial organization and building scenarios. The concepts for analyzing and designing the spatial organization of the area are provided in theory and instruction lectures. A study trip helps students to understand the context of the issues at hand.

This course critically explores the diversity of solutions being offered to secure a sustainable and future-proof food system. Starting with the EAT-lancet report as the epitome of contemporary discourse regarding food systems, week by week the course dives deeper and explores some of the most pressing questions food system thinkers are asking themselves. Each week focuses on a different question and begins with a lecture on theory, followed by a case study from the Global Network of Lighthouse farms, and/or a virtual excursion to meet relevant actors in the field, whether that be farmers, processors, distributors, decision-makers, or consumers. The week closes each subject with time to discuss the readings, ask questions, and reflect on the lessons learned in preparation for the final exam. Each week students work together to develop a plan to bridge the "think-do gap" in a case study of their choice by designing a bold vision for a more sustainable food system.

This course introduces the theory and practice of consumer studies. In terms of theory, the course focuses on economic, psychological, sociological, communication, and marketing theories to develop an understanding of consumers. Concepts such as information processing, attitude formation, framing, group norms, conflicts, motivations, emotions, goals, income, wealth, social practices, and culture are studied. In terms of practice, the course reviews four different approaches to consumer studies. All theories can be analyzed with at least four different approaches: marketing, communication, sociology, and economics. During a group assignment students analyze a self-chosen problem concerning a consumer situation with the four approaches to examine how and why consumers behave the way they do, and to provide an answer to the raised research problem.