Studio Project - Large Scale Structures, Analysis and EIA
Find portfolio instructions on: [https://www.slu.se/lam-portfolio/](
Information from the course leader
Welcome to this year's Large Scale course!
Energy Landscapes will be the theme of this year's course once again, following up on the great success of last year's courses in collaboration with Lablab, a think tank in Stockholm. Please have a look at their home page and all the exciting project they are working with: LabLab.
Discussing “landscape” in a context of Green energy transition is important since the new energy sources will have a great impact on our landscapes and, still, the concept of landscape is not yet sufficiently present within policy documents on the green energy transition (at least not in Sweden). Thus, we as landscape architects have an important task in informing society and politicians about possible clashes with existing landscape qualities, how to avoid such problems and possible, more sustainable, solutions.
Energy landscapes will be discussed from theoretical perspectives down to very concrete issues of how to analyze landscape and landscape impact, mitigation and compensation measures as well as possible design strategies for more sustainable solutions. Even though special attention will be directed towards the green energy transition, there will also be other large scale landscape-related issues discussed, such as e.g. infrastructure projects and historical dimensions of large scale landscape transformation.
This year we have had the great luck of having an excursion to Dalarna (mid-Sweden) sponsored by Svensk Vindenergi and Dalavind! Projects related to Dalarna is therefore recommended for your individual project, and if there is money left from the group excursion, then individual trips for further studies in Dalarna later on in the project might also be financed from the sponsorship. But projects anywhere in Sweden and abroad are welcome!
We will also discuss projects on regional and even national level, such as off-shore wind power, new power lines needed etc., and what this demands of e.g. landscape analysis and environmental impact assessments. And even if your final project will be quite limited in scale, remember that power distribution and material flows are of much wider dimensions.
We look very much forward to this course from our side and wish you all very welcome!
Course team via Anders Larsson
Course evaluation
The course evaluation is not yet activated
The course evaluation is open between 2025-01-12 and 2025-02-02
Syllabus and other information
Syllabus
LK0447 Studio Project - Large Scale Structures, Analysis and EIA, 15.0 Credits
Studioprojekt - Storskaliga ingrepp i landskapet, landskapsanalys och MKBSubjects
Landscape ArchitectureEducation cycle
Master’s levelModules
| Title | Credits | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Single module | 15.0 | 0001 |
Advanced study in the main field
Second cycle, has only first-cycle course/s as entry requirementsMaster’s level (A1N)
Grading scale
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.
Language
EnglishPrior knowledge
Knowledge equivalent to 150 credits, of which specific entry requirements: 90 credits in one of the following subjects:• landscape architecture
• architecture
• landscape planning
• built environment
• design
• spatial planning
• geography
• landscape science
• environmental science
• civil engineering.
and an approved portfolio accordning to specific instructions. See link for portfolio instructions under additional information.
OR 150 credits from a Landscape Architecture programme at SLU or an Erasmus partner university.
and
English 6 or equivalent.
Objectives
The course aims to develop the students' ability to analyze and characterize the overall landscape at different scale levels, which may involve municipal, regional, national and supranational level, as well as to evaluate effects and consequences of the construction of large-scale projects (e.g. roads, railways, wind farms and climate protection) for our natural and cultural environments.
After completion of the course, the student should be able to:
• select, motivate and implement those landscape analyses that are relevant prior to planned changes in the landscape
• manage planning documents for different stages in the planning process and describe the activities and roles of different authorities, stakeholders and actors
• describe the consequence of installations for the landscape, e.g. for the natural and cultural environment and for human health, e.g. in form of an Environmental or Social Impact Assessment.
Content
The course deals with large-scale structure at municipal and super-municipal level. The object of the course varies from year to year. Work components comprise advanced landscape analyses, documents for dialogue and consultation according to planning and building regulations and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Some already completed analyses and planning documents will be problematised and some individual proposals for improvements will be made.
To further student learning and promote discussion, a variety of methods are used: lectures, excursions, literature seminars, presentations of work in progress (compulsory), supervision exercises in studio (compulsory) and independent studio work.
The course focuses on the following generic competencies:
critical thinking, problem solving, written and oral communication, teamwork, independence
Collaboration with the surrounding community takes place through:
study visits, gest lectures, case/assignments and reality-based projects
The course gives 15 skills training credits for students in the Landscape Architecture Programme.
Grading form
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.Formats and requirements for examination
Examiner will evaluate the quality of compulsory assignments and reports submitted by students, their ability to make oral presentations and their ability to engage each other in critical and analytical discussions. Specifications of compulsory attendance and assignments are given at course start.
If a student has failed an examination, the examiner has the right to issue supplementary assignments. This applies if it is possible and there are grounds to do so.
The examiner can provide an adapted assessment to students entitled to study support for students with disabilities following a decision by the university. Examiners may also issue an adapted examination or provide an alternative way for the students to take the exam.
If this syllabus is withdrawn, SLU may introduce transitional provisions for examining students admitted based on this syllabus and who have not yet passed the course.
For the assessment of an independent project (degree project), the examiner may also allow a student to add supplemental information after the deadline for submission. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.
Other information
The right to participate in teaching and/or supervision only applies for the course instance the student was admitted to and registered on.
If there are special reasons, students are entitled to participate in components with compulsory attendance when the course is given again. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.
Additional information
Students admitted to Landscape Architecture – Master´s Progamme 2011-2019 are eligible for the course.Students admitted to Landscape Architecture – Master´s Programme (LAM) 2020 and following years are eligible for the course if a portfolio is approved.
Find portfolio instructions on: [https://www.slu.se/lam-portfolio/](
Responsible department
Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management
Further information
Litterature list
LIST OF LITERATURE
**STUDIO PROJECT – **
LARGE SCALE STRUCTURES, ANALYSIS AND EIA
Autumn 2024
General literature, background material for seminars, group work and individual project:
Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Administration) (2011). *Environmental Impact Assessment: Roads and Rail – Handbook and Methodology. *Publication number: 2011:55 (FULLTEXT01.pdf (diva-portal.org)).
Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Administration) (2018). Landscape as an arena: Integrated Landscape Character Assessment – method description. Publication number: 2018:158 (Download via: Integrated landscape character assessment - Bransch (trafikverket.se)).
Stahlschmidt, P., Swaffield, S., Primdahl, L., Nelleman, V. (2017). Landscape analysis – investigating the potentials of space and place. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London and New York. Can be purchased from Matilda Alfengård for 428 SKR (but pay at the reception!). Also available as e-book.
Literature seminar 1:
Reading and interpreting the landscape
**Germundsson, T. (2005). **Regional cultural heritage versus national heritage in Scania’s disputed national landscape. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 11:1, 21-37. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13527250500036791
Turner, S. (2006). Historic Landscape Characterisation: A Landscape Archaeology for Research, Management and Planning. Landscape Research, Vol. 31, No. 4, 385 – 398, October 2006. (https://doi.org/10.1080/01426390601004376)
**Whiston Spirn, A. (2005). **Restoring Mill Creek: Landscape Literacy, Environmental Justice and City Planning and Design. Landscape Research, Vol. 30, No 3, 395-413, July 2005 (Full article: Restoring Mill Creek: Landscape Literacy, Environmental Justice and City Planning and Design (tandfonline.com)).
Chapter 4, Characterisation, in Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Administration) (2018). Landscape as an arena: Integrated Landscape Character Assessment – method description. Publication number: 2018:158. (Download via: Integrated landscape character assessment - Bransch (trafikverket.se)).
Chapters 1 & 5 in: Stahlschmidt, P., Swaffield, S., Primdahl, L., Nelleman, V. (2017). Landscape analysis – investigating the potentials of space and place. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London and New York.
Literature seminar 2:
Energy Landscapes
Ermischer, G. (2004). Mental landscape: landscape as idea and concept. Landscape Research, 29 (4), 371-383. (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0142639042000289019)
**Grover, A. (2021). Chapter 1-2 (introduction + literature review in **Hyperfunctional energy landscapes: Retrofitting public space with renewable energy structure. Master of Landscape Architecture, Dept. of Landscape Architecture, University of Oregon, (Hyperfunctional Energy Landscapes: Retrofitting Public Space With Renewable Energy Infrastructure (uoregon.edu))
**LABLAB (2024). **What landscapes are for and for whom. Pages 11-18 in New Energy Landscapes, Lablab, Stockholm (NEL_FINAL_SI_2024.pdf (cargocollective.com))
Oles, T. & Hammarlund, K. (2011) The European Landscape Convention, Wind Power, and the Limits of the Local: Notes from Italy and Sweden. *Landscape Research, *36 (4), 471-485. (https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2011.582942)
**Oudes, D. (2022). Pages 9-25 in **Landscape inclusive energy transition, landscape as catalyst in the shift to renewable energy. PhD thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18174/566620 (”download pdf”)
**Semenchenko, M (2024). **Boys will be boys? Ukrainian energy landscapes during and beyond war – lessons learned from the mining settlements of Donbas. **Pages 82-88 in **New Energy Landscapes, Lablab, Stockholm (NEL_FINAL_SI_2024.pdf (cargocollective.com))
**Literature seminar 3 (Will be included in assignment 3)**:
EIA & SIA
Recommended literature:
**Chapter 2, Basic EIA methodology, **in Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Administration) (2011). *Environmental Impact Assessment: Roads and Rail – Handbook and Methodology. *Publication number: 2011:55. (FULLTEXT01.pdf (diva-portal.org)
Esteves, A.M., Franks, D., Vanclay, F. (2012). Social impact assessment: the state of the art. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 30:1, 34-42, (https://doi.org/10.1080/14615517.2012.660356)
**NnG Offshore wind (GoBe Consultants Ltd.), 2018. **Chapter 6, EIA methodology. (Mainstream (nngoffshorewind.com))
Persson, J., Larsson, A., Villarroya, A. (2015). Compensation in Swedish infrastructure projects and suggestions on policy improvements, In: Seiler, A., Helldin, J-O. (Eds), Proceedings of IENE 2014 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation, Malmö, Sweden. Nature Conservation 11: 113-127. DOI: 10.3897/natureconservation.11.4367. (https://natureconservation.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=4367)
Wilkins, H. (2003). The need for subjectivity in EIA: discourse as a tool for sustainable development. *Environmental Impact Assessment Review, *23 (2003) 401-414. (https://doi.org/10.1016/S0195-9255(03)00044-1)
+ Search for EIA-literature or EIA-reports within your specific group subject area!