Details of the programme
While the emphasis of the programme lies on technology for the provision of sustainable urban and building services, it also conquers new areas by investigating the socio-economic context in which these services are provided and managed. This includes understanding and addressing barriers to implementation, e.g. through the development of ideas for different forms of legal and economic organisation of planning, construction and urban services.
The REAP Master’s programme is an exciting opportunity for those who aspire to extend their knowledge and understanding of innovative technologies which can contribute to a more sustainable urban built environment. It targets persons from all over the world, with a wide range of academic backgrounds and work experience, sharing an interest in technology and society, and a concern for urban life, as well as for interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving.
In detail, the programme..
- provides an overview of the complex relationships between building and urban services technology (i.e., building construction and renovation, energy and water supply, waste and wastewater management) and the environment (i.e., resources and space consumption, impacts on environmental media and ecosystems)
- gives insight into patterns of user demand and behaviour and how they affect the technology-environment interaction
- imparts knowledge of resource efficient technologies, e.g. energy generation from renewable sources, as well as underlying principles, such as source separation and the closing of material cycles, demand side management, decentralised, modularised service provision, etc.
- reviews experience with and conveys ideas for different forms of legal and economic organisation of planning, construction and urban services provision
- teaches study and research methods and techniques for planning and decision support
Study Methods
Lectures and seminars are grouped around the central project work, i.e. real-time, real-world case studies, in which students, with help and guidance from faculty, develop recommendations and solutions for applied tasks. These could be: Designing a building-based, integrated supply-treatment system for water and wastewater; working out a plan for the environmentally sound retrofit of a housing block; devising an incentive-based scheme for refuse management or recycling of building materials. Project work is inspired by the research activities taking place at the university and can in turn contribute to this research. Project-based work also allows student interests and experiences with practical applications and the completion of a specific concept for design, planning or use in the context of real or potentially real problems. For this reason, it is clearly an advantage when students have relevant work experience from which they can draw for their project work. Experience with scientific concepts and an interest in the physical world is also useful.
