Geography of Europe

Code:

GEOGR023

Acronym:

GEOEUR

Instance: 2020/2021 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Geography
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Geography

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
GEOGR	81	GEOGR - Study Plan	2	-	6	4	4
LA	75	LA - Study Plan	2	-	6	4	4

Teaching language

Portuguese and english

Objectives

The main objectives of the curricular unit are the following:

• Learn the main human, physical and environmental components of the European continent and its geographical diversity: identifying and describing the main regions of Europe.
• Learn the main political milestones of recent European history, since World War II
• Acquire a critical view of the political history of the European Union, the founding documents, the main institutions and their competences and responsibilities, the successive enlargements and the recent shrinkage
• Learn, understand and explain the Cohesion Policy (European Regional Policy) in its main aspects and the evolution of its instruments.
• Analyse critically the EU regional disparities
• Develop prospective scenarios and future studies for the EU
• Acquire geographic analytical skills that can be applied to a variety of professional tasks where the analysis of spatial information is required.
• Facilitate the internationalization of students by strengthening their knowledge of the most recent international research in the field of Geography in Europe
• Enhance more focus and continuous work by the students

 

Learning outcomes and competences

Upon successful completion students should be able to:

 

• Evaluate present main challenges in Europe through the Geographic framework with a special focus on regional social and economic disparities
• Develop an informed view of the role of the European Union in the framework of globalization and multiculturalism.
• Communicate ideas and results and debate with others (with a special focus on intercultural communication skills)
• Develop elementary work to characterise European regions; know the sources and have autonomy in establishing a consistent work plan.
• Understand, explain and critically analyse European policies related to the social and economic development of the regions.
• Critique changes of the economic and political systems in Europe, with a special focus on the Cohesion Policy and its efficiency on the peripheral regions of Southern Europe
• Build prospective and future scenarios for the peripheral regions of Southern Europe
• Strengthen the soft skills of students with a special focus on human rights, on migrations and social inclusion European policies

 

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Solid basic knowledge in Human Geography, International Relations and a good level of knowledge in English to consult the bibliography and debate in English in practical workshops and presentations.
Basic knowledge of statistical sources, in particular EUROSTAT. Basic knowledge of databases, statistical data processing and graphics (access and excel).

Program

Geography of Europe

 

1. EUROPE: a continent, a culture, a concept and a utopia.

1.1. Brief portrait of Europe's physical geography and Europe's main natural units.

1.2. The political map of Europe in the main milestones of European History

1.3. Historical process of urbanization in Europe (Manuel Castells and

Urban Question). European Urban System: main urban and metropolitan areas

 

2. Europe and the European Union

2.1. The initial project of European integration: context and objectives.

2.2. Main milestones in the making of the European Union: successive enlargements and the recent shrinkage

2.3. The population of Europe (since the second half of the XX century)

2.3.1. Aging

2.3.2. Migrations

2.4. The European economy in the framework of globalization

2.5. Infrastructure and transport networks in Europe: accessibility

 

Central topic of the Curricular Unit for the school year 2010/21:

3. The EU Cohesion Policy

3.1. Economic, social and territorial cohesion

3.2. Europe between Member States and Regions

3.3 Regional Disparities in the EU

 

4. Southern Europe

4.1. The geography of Southern Europe

4.2. The peripheral regions of Southern European countries

4.3. Development policies for peripheral regions in Southern Europe

 

5. Prospective scenarios and studies of futures

Alternative topic for students from other programmes

6. The New Silk Roads. Building Bridges between China and Europe. Belt and Road Initiative BRI

 

Mandatory literature

Rodriguez-Posé, Andrés; The European Union: economy, society and polity, Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780198742869
European Commission ; Competitiveness in low-income and low-growth regions The lagging regions report., 2017 (https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/information/publications/reports/2017/competitiveness-in-low-income-and-low-growth-regions-the-lagging-regions-report)
Madalena Pires da Fonseca; Regional upgrading in southern Europe. ISBN: 978-3-319-49817-1
Iammarino, Simona; Rodriguez-Posé, Andrés; Storper, Michael; Regional inequality in Europe: evidence, theory and policy implications, Springer. Journal of Economic Geography, 19 pp 273-298, 2019. ISBN: Online ISSN 1468-2710
European Commission ; Investment for Jobs and growth. Promoting development and good governance in EU regions and cities. Sixth report on economic, social and territorial cohesion., Publications Office of teh European Union, 2014. ISBN: ISBN 978-92-79-37910-9 (http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cohesion_report)
Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés; Ketterer, Tobias; Institutional change and the development of lagging regions in Europe, Regional Studies. Routledge, 2019. ISBN: ISSN 1360-0591 (Online) ( https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2019.1608356)
Riccardo Crescenzi & Mara Giua; One or many Cohesion Policies of the European Union? On the differential economic impacts of Cohesion Policy across member states, Regional Studies. Routledge, 2020. ISBN: ISSN 1360-0591 (Online) ( https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2019.1665174)
Ketterer, Tobias D.; Rodríguez‐Pose, Andrés ; Institutions vs. ‘first‐nature’ geography: What drives economic growth in Europe's regions?, Papers in Regional Science, Mar2018 Supplement S1, v. 97. First published:02 June 2016. https://doi.org/10.1111/pirs.12237, 2018
Crescenzi, Riccardo; Luca, Davide; Milio, Simona ; The Geography of the Economic Crisis in Europe: National Macroeconomic Conditions, Regional Structural Factors and Short-Term Economic Performance, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, March 2016, v. 9, (1). pp. 13-32. doi:10.1093/cjres/rsv031, 2016
Fratesi, Ugo; Rocriguez-Posé ; The crisis and regional employment in Europe: what role for sheltered economies?, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 2016, 9, 33–57, 2016. ISBN: Online ISSN 1752-1386 (doi:10.1093/cjres/rsv032)
European Commission ; White Paper on the Future of Europe and the Way Ahead. Reflections and scenarios for the EU27., European Commission, 2017. ISBN: 978-92-79-67643-7 ( https://ec.europa.eu/commission/white-paper-future-europe-reflections-and-scenarios-eu27_en)
European Commission ; Eight Progress Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. doi:10.2776/74866 , 2013
European Commission ; website oficial da Comissão Europeia com documentos relevantes para a Política regional/ Política de Coesão (European Commission/ EU regional and urban development/ Regional Policy/ (The new) Cohesion Policy), https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/2021_2027/

Complementary Bibliography

Brakman, Steven; Frankopan, Peter; Garretsen, Harry; Marrewijk, Charles van; The New SIlk Roads: an introduction to China's Belt and Road Initiative, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 2019, 12, 2019. ISBN: ISSN 1752-1378

Comments from the literature

Eurostat will be the mais data source for the individual essays but also for downloading studies and reports made available there regularly with updated statistics and for relevant themes.

Teaching methods and learning activities

Teaching and learning methods aim at student-centered learning. Hence, the front talk lectures will be very focused and reduced to a minimum for theoretical framework and objectives presentations, topics and readings recommendations, guidelines, rules for workshops or debates and with discussion opportunities. Talks, presentations will be made available and there will always be personalized coaching, in English or Portuguese.

Project Based Learning, Research Based Learning, Problem Based Learning, Labor Market Based Learning will be applied and practical work will be developed. There will be student presentations and practical classes in the form of workshops.

The aim will be to: contribute to good teaching, study and experience conditions for students, boosting their motivation for research work; priority will be given to flexibility and the humanistic component and the development of transversal skills, through multidisciplinary integrating projects, organizing multicultural working groups as far as possible. Awareness of human rights topics will be always attempted when studying regional disparities and migrations in Southern Europe.

Particular attention will be paid to the development of oral communication, argumentation and debate skills.

Intercultural communication will also be a tool to facilitate internationalisation at home, for students.

Software

Excel
Access
Word

keywords

Social sciences > Political sciences > Policy studies > International relations
Social sciences > Geography
Social sciences > Political sciences > Policy studies > EU policies

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	20,00
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	20,00
Prova oral	20,00
Trabalho escrito	40,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	6,00
Estudo autónomo	40,00
Frequência das aulas	56,00
Trabalho de investigação	30,00
Trabalho escrito	30,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Students will have to register 75% of attendance in classes, including presentation and discussion of the written work. At the beginning of the semester, changes may be introduced, with the reinforcement of distance learning. The contents of the syllabus will be inserted in the moodle and the e-learning component will be reinforced.

Calculation formula of final grade

The calculation of the student's final grade is based on the weight of the evaluation components, respecting in everything else the rules of the FLUP. Thus, Written work, 40% (8 points); presentation and discussion of the written work, 20% (4 points); classes attendance and participation, 20% (4 points);  oral examination 20% (4 points).

Examinations or Special Assignments

For those that can not attend classes, there will be the possibility of a final examination (20points)

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

For Students with Special Educational Needs, appropriate adjustments will be made to the assessment components and other procedures, in accordance with the guidelines of the Office for Supporting Students with Special Educational Needs of the UP / Support Center for Inclusion of the UP.

Classification improvement

Students can improve their written work and submit it to a new presentation and discussion to improve the classification. For students who have taken a single final exam, there will be the possibility of an oral examination.

Observations

Due to constraints related to the Corona Virus and online learning, it was necessary to change the structure of the assessment components. There is no oral presentation of the individual assignment and the weight of this component (20% = 4 values) is distributed as follows: 10% (2 values) for the presentation of the individual assignment proposal, according to the form distributed and made accessible on moodle; 25% for the attendance (online) (5 values) and 25% for the Oral Test (5 values). New structure:

Attendance of classes and participation	25
Individual assignment proposal	10
Oral examination	25
Individual essay	40
Total:	100