LE:NOTRE Mundus Case Study Template

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Status: Draft 2.0 / Simon Swaffield, comments: Ellen Fetzer/Richard Stiles Sept 08

General

• The purpose of the Le Notre Mundus case studies is for comparative teaching at advanced undergraduate or postgraduate level.
• The case studies can be focused upon an area, or a plan, or a project. The key requirement is that it should be a coherent urban or cultural landscape topic that reveals insights of potential value to educators in other countries.
• The following guidelines and checklist has been developed to guide contributors and ensure that there is some consistency of style and content. The checklist is aimed at current best practice Francis 2001.

Content Checklist

Cover Sheet

• Name of case study, author[s], affiliation, contact details, date submitted

Rationale: Why is the case study interesting?

• Please summarise:- eg Design Innovation? Planning Exemplar? Theoretical Insights? Lessons from its failure? [ It doesn’t have to have been successful]

• Think about it from the view of another educator in a different country. Why should I use this case study in my teaching?

Illustrations: Paragraph and representative image

Author's perspective

• What theoretical or professional perspective do you bring to the case study?

Description

• Name; location; any relevant dates; cost if relevant; area; participants

Illustration: table format

Landscape context

• Biogeography, cultural features, overall character, history and dynamics

Illustration: Map; sketches; short descriptive analyses

Cultural/social/political context

• Brief explanation of culture, political economy, legal framework

Illustration: Bullet points, image, background notes

History

• How did the area/project/plan at the focus of the case study evolve?

Illustration: Table or time line

Spatial analysis of area/project/plan

• What are the main structural features?
• How has it been shaped? Were there any critical decisions?

Illustration: Map/diagram/sketches photos and background notes

Analysis of program/function

• What are the main functional characteristics?
• How have they been expressed or incorporated?

Illustration: Map/diagram/sketches photos and background notes

Analysis of design/planning process

• How was the area/project/plan formulated and implemented?
• Were there any important consultations/collaborations?

Illustration: Map/diagram/sketches photos and background notes

Analysis of use/users

• How is the area/project/plan used and by whom?
• Is the use changing? Are there any issues?

Illustration: Map/diagram/sketches photos and background notes

Future development directions

• How is the area/project/plan evolving?
• Are there any future goals?

Illustration: Map/diagram/sketches photos and background notes

Peer reviews or critique

• Has the area/ project/plan been reviewed by academic or professional reviewers?
• What were their main evaluations?

Pleas add references, quotes...

Successes and limitations

• What do you see as the main successes and limitations of the area/project/plan?

Illustration: Summary table

What can be generalized from this case study?

• Are there any important theoretical insights?

Short statement plus background notes

What research questions does it generate?

Short statement plus background notes

Format

Basic format

• The basic format addresses contributors who are not yet familiar with publishing directly on the LE:NOTRE homepage or on the internet in general. In this case you would submit an illustrated report in the form of a Word or a PDF file. The illustrations can either be incorporated into the text, or attached as appendices. Images, diagrams etc should be prepared as pdfs.
• A check list of sections headings is suggested below, to cover the main features of a comparative case study.
• All material should be in English

Powerpoint format

• You can enhance the basic format by adding a Powerpoint presentation. The slides should correspond to the section headings and include the core statements of your report.
• On the Powerpoint, you should aim for no more than 30 slides in total.
• Limit the text on each slide to what can easily be read by a student in a lecture, and place more detailed background notes for the teacher in the notes section.
• All material should be in English

LE:NOTRE Encyclopedia

• The new Encyclopaedia database is a powerful additional resource on the LE:NOTRE web site. It will let you write structured entries and add links to web sites, images and literature references from the web site’s own databases.
• This is the recommended format for urban landscape case studies
• A tutorial for editing the encyclopedia will be published soon.

VITERO Seminars and Recordings

• VITERO stands for Virtual Team Room, this is the online meeting room of the LE:NOTRE project enabling synchronous communication on the internet.
• If your present your case study in the course of an urban landscapes online seminar, the session can be recorded and published on the LE:NOTRE website.
• Seminar recordings are important teaching resources and they will enhance your case study presentation.
• You may have a look at a recording example: Landscape Theory

Copyright

• It is vital that material in the case study is not limited by copyright and that it is legal for all members of LE NOTRE to reuse the material in their teaching.
• We recommend using a creative commons licence for your contribution.