Inter-university networking in educating spatial planners

Sanja Gašparović, Alma Zavodnik Lamovšek and Gašper Mrak and Mojca Foški

Summary:  In this paper, the results of an international teaching collaboration between the Chair of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Landscape Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Zagreb and the Chair of Spatial Planning at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering of the University of Ljubljana will be presented. This cooperation was established as part of regular courses, in which a total of 110 students and 11 teachers from both faculties collaborated on a single project assignment. The final scenarios of spatial development of the area along Radnička Street in Zagreb were approached by combining the established teaching methods of both faculties through a specially organised learning process. Special emphasis was placed on using models as a research tool in all planning stages: from understanding space and concept development to the visualisation of the final spatial development proposal. The model, which is often used as a spatial visualisation tool for various stakeholders, presented—as a spatial exploration tool—a major challenge for the students and provided new perspectives for understanding the various tasks on a city scale. Within the learning process, an international workshop was held to enable in-depth discussions, exchange of experiences and knowledge, and sharing of various approaches and learning methods from both faculties, which undoubtedly improved both the results of the learning process and the proposed spatial solutions for the area under consideration. The students’ results were presented in a joint publication and at the exhibitions in Zagreb and Ljubljana.