Campus as Vision and in Practice of Local Educational Landscapes

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Thomas Coelen; Professorin Dr.-Ing. Angela Million
• Subject Area: Urbanism, Spatial Planning, Transportation and Infrastructure Planning, Landscape Planning
• Term: from 2017 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 386260334

In the municipal practice in Germany institutions of education, upbringing and childcare increasingly form networks. These so called Local Educational Landscapes develop common visions and implement strategic concepts. Often they are supported by politics and local authorities. Some of these Local Educational Landscapes are not only concentrating on pedagogy but are also understood as projects of urban development, urban design and architecture. Similar projects can be found in a number of countries, especially in Europe and North America.The on-going DFG-project Local Educational Landscapes and Urban Development analyses such socio-spatial Educational Landscapes in Germany in eight case studies. Hereby, it becomes apparent that the campus as urban figure is central in the visions of local stakeholders. Furthermore, campuses can be understood as a highly condensed form of a Local Educational Landscape.The project Campus as Vision and Practice of Local Educational Landscapes builds up on these findings. In a first project module we will analyse the conception and implementation of such campuses. The mutual development of networks and their visions will be the focus. Methods for data collection will be group discussions with relevant stakeholders and observations of committee meetings. In the second project module we will analyse everyday practices of users (primarily adolescents) on the campuses, especially processes of appropriation and spatial perceptions. Methods for data collection will be spatial analyses, observations, standardised interviews and narrative maps.Three perspectives characterise the research: (1) The inner view, which is realised by capturing opinions and practices. (2) The focus on collective activities, which is captured in form of verbal and spatial actions of social groups. (3) The process perspective, which is realised in a two-year longitudinal study. The actor-network theory is used as methodological framework. Applied as heuristic concept it allows overcoming the dichotomisation of human and non-human actors. Therefore, the nexus between materiality and the social can be analysed. Thereby, we will focus on the socio-material reality of accesses/accessibility and transition on campuses since they are given particular attention in the pedagogical and spatial concepts.The key research questions are: (1) In what way do networks and their visions of campus develop and which meanings and significance are attributed to the campus as urban form in view of pedagogical and spatial aims? (2) In what way do the perceptions, usage, appropriation and design of space of the local actors show on the respective campus and what socio-material reality of accesses/accessibility and transition develops on campuses?Building up upon the three-year project applied for here, we plan for an additional two-year duration in order to shift the focus from Germany to an international comparison.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants