General provisions

The course is mandatory for students attending the Master's Programme in the humanities, specializing in Cultural Heritage and Sustainability.

Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university

Learning outcomes

The student should, after completing the course, be able to,

regarding knowledge and understanding

• present, discuss and critically reflect on different conceptions of sustainable development,
• reflect on relationships between conservation and sustainable development,
• reflect on of how conservation of cultural heritage can contribute to resilience, social cohesion, job creation and to other sustainable development aspects,

regarding competence and skills

• independently analyse, assess and handle complex cultural heritage and sustainable development phenomena, issues and situations,
• independently search, plan and use relevant information as a basis for carrying out qualified tasks with the purpose of clarifying and integrating cultural heritage and its role in sustainable development as well as the sustainable development of cultural heritage,
• in written form present and discuss perspectives, problems and solutions in both national and international perspectives in dialogue with different groups

regarding judgement and approach

• relate to how problems and solutions regarding cultural heritage and sustainable development are framed and managed at regional, national and international levels.

Content

Cultural heritage is increasingly recognised as a fundamental resource for sustainable development. The purpose of this course is to give an advanced introduction to the concepts:

• conservation of cultural heritage,
• heritage studies and
• sustainable development.

The course treats various aspects of cultural heritage management and their relations to sustainable development, seeking to understand how they can merge and what the contemporary and future challenges are in trying to achieve conditions in which heritage can support sustainability and resilience.

• The course recognises cultural urban and rural landscape as living heritage made of complex characters, relationships and multidimensional interactions.
• The course deals with the most recent approaches to valorisation, conservation and transformation of cultural heritage.
• The course incorporates tangible and intangible cultural heritage as a vehicle for resilience, diversity and identity.

The course incorporates the results of research and practice, contributing to the improvement of current practices for sustainable development while developing and applying new/emerging practices for heritage-led sustainable development.

Instruction

The course will consist of seminars, lectures, and group work. Active participation in seminars and group work is compulsory. Absence from any of these will need to be compensated.

Assessment

Assessment will be based on active participation in seminars and the submission of written assignments. Grades will be given in accordance to the Swedish grading system. The following grades will be used: Fail (U), Pass (G), Pass with distinction (VG).

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.