LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture Evaluation Visit TAO Questionnaire LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture 1.Implementation of the European Policy Statement (EPS) 1.1 At what stage of implementation are the original EPS activities and is the institution working towards meeting the objectives? 1.2 How do(es) the project(s) contribute towards the internationalisation of administrative staff, teachers and students? 1.3 What sort of difficulties, if any, has the institution encountered with regard to the implementation of the EPS (what is the background to these difficulties and what solutions were found)? 1.4 What plans exist as regards the organisation of future projects to support implementation of the EPS? LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture 1.Implementation of the European Policy Statement (EPS) 1.5 How do the project activities contribute towards achieving the EPS targets? 1.6 How are activities related to the implementation of the EPS planned and managed? How is the leadership role defined within the institution (what are the specific roles of Erasmus and Project Coordinators)? 1.7 What criteria exist to measure successful implementation of the EPS? 1.8 How does the EPS relate to the Bologna process? LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture 2. Aims and Objectives of the Project 2.1 Do these remain the same? If there have been any changes, what are they, what are the implications and how are they justified? 2.2 How do the objectives of the project reflect on the targets established within the European Policy Statement (EPS)? 2.3 What are the innovative and transnational objectives? 2.4 Who are the key beneficiaries likely to be? LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE - Aims and Objectives to strengthen the European landscape architecture academic community, to highlight the European dimensions and identity of the discipline to move towards the convergence of undergraduate curricula by the identification of common reference points, making use of the approaches developed by the Tuning Project; to develop common agreed goals for learning outcomes and improved teaching methods backed by common teaching resources for landscape architecture education, building on best European practice and emerging new directions, methods and technologies, especially ICT; to strengthen the potential for research in landscape architecture at the European level, to improve communication with professional bodies and public authorities, landscape students and other stakeholders, as well as with related disciplines at the European level to initiate measures necessary to facilitate the improved future mobility of staff and students; and to strengthen the long-term framework through which this process of dialogue and co-operation can continue at the same level of quality and intensity beyond the time scale of the Thematic Network Project. LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE - Reflection on the targets of EPS Objectives of LE:NOTRE and the EPS TU Vienna Strengten Contacts to European universities, Provide a better basis for SOKRATES student exchange Improving the European level Quality assurance and assessment at the university through international contacts Landscape Architecture Department Web Site with information on Student exchange LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Key Beneficiaries direct participants teachers and researchers at higher education institutions in Europe involved in landscape architecture education stakeholder partner organisations, especially the professional and public bodies which represent the industry of the landscape profession. current and future students of the discipline, who will become the professionals of tomorrow. Past students, the European profession as a whole and the many public authorities which employ landscape architects The ultimate beneficiary can be thought of as the whole of society, as we all live in the European landscape and rely on it not only for resources (agricultural and forest products, minerals, etc) but also as the context and a provider of meaning and transmitter of values in our daily lives, for educational purposes and as a setting for recreational and leisure pursuits, all of which add to the quality of life. LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture 3. Project Workplan and Timetable 3.1 How is the project workplan managed? 3.2 Will the planned activities meet the projects aims and objectives? 3.3 How does the project match resources to the planned sequence of activities? 3.4 How does the project define milestones within the project timetable? LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Workplan Focused on 3 annual meetings in autumn, spring and summer each at one of the partner universities During the time in between the meetings the project web site ensures the communication in between the network members Due to the delay in payment of the grant the workplan has been revised and an application for an extension of the project period until February 2006 has been submitted (contract amendment) The next steps of the work plan are announced on the web sites main page LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 SurveyAnalysisProjects The simple analogy with a serial planning/design process did not last long LE:NOTRE Workplan LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture Survey Analysis Projects LE:NOTRE Workplan Year 1Year 2 Year 3 LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Grant Allocation * Travel and subsistence40,3 Web site user interface & database programming13,1 Contribution to the Working and Output Groups12,5 Project Management (staff costs)10,3 External Evaluation incl. travel costs6,8 Review Papers from Neighbouring Disciplines 4,5 Meetings costs (infrastructure)3,7 Stakeholders (survey, evaluation, dissemination)3,6 Feasibility study 2,2 Publishing incl. Graphics1,2 Bank Costs1,1 Tuning advice0,6 Equipment0,3 *Including estimations for year 3 LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Milestones within the timetable Project Structure Steering Committee Meeting Network Meeting Steering Committee Meeting Network Meeting Steering Committee Meeting Network Meeting Steering Committee Meeting Year 1Year 2 Year 3 LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Milestones within the timetable Vienna First Steering Committee Meeting Kassel First Network meeting Edinburgh Steering Committee Meeting Report Preparation Year 1 Barcelona Steering Committee Meeting Larenstein Network meeting Jelgava Steering Committee Meeting As ECLAS Conference, Steering Committee meeting Report Preparation Year 2 Cracow Steering Committee Meeting Budapest Network meeting Budapest Tuning Conference Copenhagen Steering Committee Meeting Ankara ECLAS Conference Report Preparation Year 3 LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture 4. Measuring Achievement 4.1 How does the project plan to measure and demonstrate success? 4.2 Which quantitative and qualitative measures will the project use to evaluate its degree of success in achieving the projects aims and objectives? LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Project Structure LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Statistic Year 196 Universities78 Stakeholders organisations9 Non eligible Universities9 Year 2109 Universities89 Stakeholders organisations 10 Non eligible Universities10 Year 3115 Universities97 Stakeholders organisations 11 Non eligible Universities7 Dissemination Proposal 118 Universities97 Stakeholders organisations 13 Non eligible Universities8 LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Statistic Database Entries Teaching: Study Programmes 170 People741 Course Units1730 Theses1083 Glossary of Landscape Architecture Terms Terms entered3262 Translations8364 Journals Database87 Literature Database1611 Projects Database19 European Policy Institutions53 Programmes14 Projects33 Official Documents13 LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Quality Control Transparent Web Site: No anonymous log in or data entries possible LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture 5. Outputs 5.1 What are the actual/anticipated interim & final outputs? 5.2 What improvement in outputs can be made as a result of the projects experience so far? 5.3 Which anticipated outputs will help in dissemination, transfer and mainstreaming of the projects achievements? LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Outputs Year 1& 2 Year 1 Year 2 LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Outputs Year 3 Output 3.1: Manual of good practice providing an overview of possible undergraduate course structures, together with recommendations on core and optional content and teaching methods and other resources. This will provide a basis for future Europe-wide guidelines for the process of course evaluation and accreditation and will be developed to reflect the approaches and goals behind the Tuning Project. Output 3.2: Recommendations and a detailed concept for a suite of European Masters Courses and Continuing Education Modules to be developed and offered by individual landscape schools or university consortia. These will include recommendations for first and second professional degrees at masters level as well as shorter specialist modular courses. Output 3.3: A European research methods course for landscape architecture. This will take the form of a framework for teaching modules for use by PhD students and their supervisors and others newly embarking on research programmes in landscape architecture. Output 3.4: An catalogue of possible collaborative projects for the development of common teaching resources for use at the European level. LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Outputs Year 3 TUNING Output 3.5: Tuning Project Line One Generic Competences Preliminary Report. Based on a re-analysis and re-structuring of the outputs of the second year of the project a preliminary, internal, report on Generic Competences in European Landscape Architecture Education will be prepared; This will involve integrating and editing together the results of the work done on generic competences done by the individual subject area working groups during the second and third year of the project Output 3.6: Tuning Project Line Two Subject Specific Competences Preliminary Report. The same outputs as referred to in 3.5 above will be further analysed and re-structred to allow them to be developed into a preliminary, internal, report on Subject Specific Competences Knowledge, Skills and Understanding in European Landscape Architecture Education; Output 3.7: Tuning Project Line Three Using ECTS as a Credit Accumulation System - Preliminary Report. This will be developed on the basis of the analysis of information collected during the first year of the project on the duration and student workload of courses relating to the different fields represented by the subject area working groups. Output 3.8: Tuning Project Line Four Approaches to teaching, Learning and Assessment Preliminary Report. Here too the analysis of the course unit data for each subject area working group will provide the basis for this preliminary report. LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Reflection on Project Obstacles faced Lack of Time of persons involved (Bologna process at universities) Language Problem New Technologies as a barrier because of insufficient equipment/ internet connection new technologies being an unknown tool for members LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Outputs for Dissemination Year 1 Output and permanent communication basis:- Project Web Site Collaborative Projects: Landscape Architecture Journal The plan to establish a European Academic Journal for Landscape Architecture to publish its first issue during the Dissemination Project Period Urban Landscape Network The plan to establish a network to make connections with the wider society and in particular public authorities, as well as to strengthen the links between teaching, practice and research by making links with several research networks in the field of urban green space planning, which have been operating under the 5th Framework Programme LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Dissemination LE:NOTRE presented 33 times all over the world Articles published in 6 academic journals LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Dissemination Presentations: Vienna, AUSTRIA Bordeaux, FRANCE Peking, CHINA Strasbourgh, FRANCE Hannover, GERMANY Lissabon, PORTUGAL Oslo, NORWAY As, NORWAY Lednice, CZECH REPUBLIC Helsinki, FINLAND Sofia, BULGARIA Angers, FRANCE Mnchen GERMANY Hvanneyri, ICELAND Bucharest, ROMANIA Alnaro, SWEDEN Lincon, NEW ZEALAND Articles published in Garten& Landschaft Journal of Landscape Architecture in Turkey Norwegian Review of Architecture Norwegian Review of Nature Management Topos Magazine Landscape Research LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture 6. Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting 6.1 What instruments and procedures are planned to allow partners, and others involved with the project, to express their views on the development and progress of the project? 6.2 What documentation will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the project partnership? 6.3 How will transnationality and innovation be illustrated? LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Democracy LE:NOTRE Project: Bottom up concept LE:NOTRE Project School Contact Person Contact Person Individual Staff Members Member School LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture Feedback Button Forums to discuss all LE:NOTRE and landscape architecture issues Accessible for all ~ 700 members Database entries reflect level of participation LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture 7. Financial Management 7.1 How are finances managed? 7.2 If there have been any changes to the budget, what are these, what are the implications and how are they justified? 7.3 How is compliance with the financial rules checked and guaranteed? 7.4 What, if anything, could be done to improve the financial management of the project? LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Finances Finances are managed centrally from Vienna, all transmissions are made through Vienna University of Technology according to the guidelines of the Financial Handbook valid for the project period Staff Costs are paid to partners according to their daily rates Travel Costs are refunded on the presentation of original tickets after the meetings Subsistence Costs are for all members from Vienna Subcontracting Costs for external advice and knowledge Other Costs mainly for Meetings Infrastructure, Publishing and Bank Charges All transmissions are stated in the Final Report which is also uploaded to the web site There are no major changes in the budget compared to the applications LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Finances Compliance with the financial rules through use of Financial Handbook and liaison with the Technical Assistance Office Partnership agreements and contracts have to be signed and sent to Vienna Advance payment is done to partners on presentation of Budget Plan for meetings only Obstacles were faced in Vienna through the implementation of SAP at Vienna University of Technology In Vienna and on Partner universities regulations for finances do not always fit with the Commissions guidelines (universities keep percentage of amounts transferred versus actual costs, universities keep original tickets,) LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Questions to the Technical Assistance Office What is your impression of our network? What do you think of our project website? Compared to other Thematic Networks, do you think that we are on a good way? Compared to other Thematic Networks coordinating institutions, did you get the impression, that other coordinators get a lot of support from their universities? We are thinking about a new application for a second turn (LE:NOTRE 2), what are from your point of view the main themes for such a programme. What is the European Commissions policy regarding Thematic Networks in future? Can you provide us with more detailed information about the New Generation of Education Programmes 2007? Tuning Landscape architecture. We have put some efforts in including the Tuning methodology into our Thematic Network. We have put in an application for a dissemination year and hope to get it approved. How shall we go on in our work for Tuning when there may be no funding any more? LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Questions to the Technical Assistance Office Requests coming from the TAO on budget details. What were the reasons for asking for these further details? When can we expect to get the 20% paid for year 1 of the project? When can we expect to get the 20% paid for year2 of the project? We plan to evaluate the impact of the project on Landscape Architecture Education and on the European Dimension within the subject area through a dissertation. Are there any resources to contribute to the funding of such a dissertation? Where can we apply to get this evaluation funded? We are about to apply for a contract amendment to extend the eligibility period of year 3 of the project. There might be additional funding from the Austrian ministry for the staff costs of the project manager for the weeks of the extension, but only if we get the amendment approved. How long will it take to get the amendment approved? LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Questions to the Technical Assistance Office How shall we deal with project partners that contribute to the project actively but do not send a time sheet (in time)? How shall we deal with people that are not willing to tell us their salaries. In the internal evaluation of universities usually only teaching and research are evaluated, but work on a programme such as a Thematic network is not evaluated. Are there any actions taken by the European commission to convince universities that they should include such programmes into their university intern evaluation? LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Dissemination Project Activities a. The foundation of a new European Academic Landscape Architecture Journal The concrete output of this sub-project will be the setting up of the new journal and the publication of the first volume. Discussions on cooperation with one of the LE:NOTRE Project Partner Organisations, the European Landscape Architecture Magazine TOPOS are at an advanced stage. This will meet the objectives of the sustainability of the network, the strengthening of the links between teaching and research, and the aim of disseminating the work of the Network beyond its current member universities. The main activities will be meetings, the design of the journal, information and calls for articles, the editorial preparation of the issues of the first volume and their printing and distribution. Target groups will be all those interested in reading and publishing in a peer- reviewed academic landscape architecture journal in Europe and beyond. The planned journal will be an innovative European counterpart to Landscape Journal, which is published by the American Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. After its first year of support from the LE:NOTRE+PLUS Project, the journal is planned to become self-supporting via subscriptions and the membership of ECLAS (see Output b below). LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Dissemination Project b. The establishment of ECLAS on a new legal footing with new statues and business plan The objective of this sub-project relates to one the recently formulated new tasks for Thematic Networks, i.e. that all Thematic Networks form a democratically constituted and legally established association or join an existing one. ECLAS, the European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools, is the body which links universities across Europe involved in landscape architecture teaching and research. Although it was the initiator of the LE:NOTRE Thematic Network Project, it is not currently legally established. The concrete output of this sub-project will be the legal establishment of ECLAS, including new statutes and bylaws, its legal incorporation and a business plan for the forthcoming five years. The main activities will involve drafting the necessary documents and establishing the legal basis for the organisation and disseminating widely information about it (considerable interest in involvement in ECLAS from beyond Europe already exists, including from universities in China). LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Dissemination Project Activities c. The restructuring, technical documentation and integration of the LE:NOTRE and ECLAS web sites The organic evolution of the LE:NOTRE web site in response to the needs of the project meant that it was not possible to specify its exact structure from the beginning of the project, nor was it possible to foresee in advance the way in which it would develop in response to the projects changing needs. As the project comes to an end, and moves into a new phase, there is a clear need to formally document the site. This objective will contribute directly to the long term sustainability of the project and the safeguarding of the investment in the web site to date as well as providing an essential basis for its future development. Before the project started ECLAS also had its own small web site (www.eclas.org) which will also need to respond to the requirement for a new legally constituted organisation into which the LE:NOTRE Network and its web site can be integrated. There is now a need to develop a concept for a new website for the new ECLAS (see Output b above) and to integrate the two existing and previously separate web sites into this. by deepening the reach of the project within the current university membership, but it will also make it easier for new members to rapidly become integrated as active members of the network. LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Dissemination Project Activities d. The updating, editing and making available the course unit information to prospective ERASMUS Exchange Students The current LE:NOTRE web site contains an extensive database of course units offered by the various Network member institutions. While this innovative resource could potentially be extremely useful for students and their tutors worldwide planning exchange visits at European universities (the main target groups) the information currently represents raw data on courses, but does not, for example, currently contain information on whether and when they run in any specific semester/term. The database therefore needs to be updated, edited, added to and restructured, in order that it can be made available to students on a publicly accessible website; this is the objective of this planned sub-project. This will be complemented by the development of a detailed on-line academic year calendar for each member university as a vital precondition for planning staff and student mobility. The concrete output will be a new searchable public web site area, providing direct access to the edited and updated information on course units and their availability, specially aimed at visiting students together with the associated academic calendars. The main activities will be the editing of the data and the design and programming of the new web site, as well as the dissemination of information about it to students and staff at all member schools as well as others in Europe and beyond. LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Dissemination Project Activities e. The development of a European Urban Landscape Network involving Universities and Municipal Authorities across the continent The aim is the establishment of new and long-term network which links in partnership university departments involved in landscape architecture teaching and research with local authority departments in Europes major cities responsible for landscape planning, design and management. The main outputs of this sub-project will be a European seminar involving representatives from some 25 cities and universities, together with the first phases of a new joint interactive web site modelled on the LE:NOTRE site. It is anticipated that this project will become self-sustaining as local authority members will be expected to pay a membership fee, The main target groups are teachers and researchers at European universities involved in the planning, design and management of urban open space together with their local authority counterparts responsible for these issues in practice, as well as local politicians and the public. The main activities will be the organisation of a seminar for a core group of representatives from some 25 major European cities and partner universities and the dissemination of information about the project in order to recruit as wide a group of towns, cities and partner universities as possible. The design and programming of the web site will be a further important activity. LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Dissemination Project Activities f. The completion of the contributions to the five lines of the Tuning Project as a Core Area and the publication of the results During the second year of the LE:NOTRE Project, the initial steps were made in addressing the aims of the first four lines of the Tuning Project within the context of the twelve subject area working groups around which the LE:NOTRE Project has been structured as a so-called synergy group. The third year of LE:NOTRE will see this work extended and deepened in the context of the project as a whole. For the planned Dissemination Project it is the objective to complete the work on Tuning and for the Network to become a core area and to publish the results relating to all five Tuning Lines. The main output envisaged will be a joint publication with the Tuning Project. The main activities and methodologies adopted to achieve this will be those developed by the Tuning Project adapted as necessary to fit the needs of landscape architecture, in close consultation with the Networks Tuning Advisor. Dissemination of this output will be in the form of a publication. Interest in the results beyond Europe is to be expected from the USA where a project on the body of knowledge in landscape architecture is being developed. LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Dissemination Project Activities g. The publication of the Papers contributed to the analysis stage of the project by the representatives of neighbouring academic disciplines During the second year of the LE:NOTRE Project, the interdisciplinary nature of landscape architecture, in particular through the relationship to its neighbouring disciplines was investigated by involving twelve eminent specialists from associated academic fields. Each was commissioned to prepare a paper setting out how they saw the interface between their discipline and the field of landscape architecture, both in the field of teaching needs and with regard to the potential for research cooperation. These papers have now been received in their preliminary form, and the objective of this sub-project is to edit these, and to commission additional introductory and concluding papers from within the LE:NOTRE Network, and then to publish them in the form of an edited book. The concrete output of this sub-project will be the edited and layouted papers from all twelve authors, plus the addition of introductory and integrating essays. The main activities to produce output will involve liaison with the authors, editing of the papers and their preparation for publication. This output will be innovative in that there has previously been no such attempt to produce such a publication in Europe or elsewhere. In addition it offers a new potential to disseminate the outcomes of the project within the neighbouring academic disciplines involved. LE:NOTRE Thematic Network in Landscape Architecture LE:NOTRE Dissemination Project Activities h. Preparation of new publicity and learning material for internal and external dissemination and awareness of project outcomes Despite the success of the strategy of involving as many landscape architecture schools in the LE:NOTRE Project as were interested to participate, the degree of involvement on the part of all schools has not been the same, nor has the level of awareness of the project amongst all staff been equally good even in those universities at which there have been very active contributions. One important explanation for this has, perhaps, been an over-reliance on word of mouth, electronic communication and the internet to spread information and to inform people about the project as well as to instruct network members in the use of the increasingly sophisticated web site. While the reasons for adopting this approach its innovative character, great potential for future development and cost saving nature are still valid, it is now felt that not enough account was taken of the significant number of people who either have insufficient access to good internet connections, or who are still reluctant to make use of this technology and are thus even more susceptible to being put off from participating by the growing complexity and sophistication of the web site. This analysis leads to the identification for the need for the provision of more, better and more easily accessible information both about the project itself and in particular about the use of its web site than has been available to date.