Build4People Curriculum Development Summit

On 04 March 2021, the first Build4People Curriculum Development Summit Meeting took place, see agenda. The main aim of this event was to identify needs and demands in terms of curriculum development from the side of the Cambodian research partners.

It was organized by the Build4People Work Package #7 “Coordination, Communication and Dissemination” with input support from Build4People Work Package #4 “Urban Green” and from representatives of Royal University of Phnom Penh, Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia and of Royal University of Agriculture.

Greetings words were provided by the Build4People consortium representative Dr Michael Waibel, Dr Vanny Sok, Vice-Rector of Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), Dr Justin Op, Vice-President of Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia (PUC) and Stefan Hase-Bergen, Director of Regional Office of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Hanoi. Stefan Hase-Bergen introduced about funding opportunities of DAAD and assured his personal advice and support in regard of Build4People related applications for funding. 

Afterwards, Dr Michael Waibel, Build4People consortium leader, presented about the capacity development approaches of the Build4People project in regard of the upcoming Research and Development phase. In his conclusion he made clear, that curriculum development is a marathon, not a sprint, which requires a lot of personal dedication of all parties involved. Then, Lena Radmer, student assistant at Hamburg University, introduced an analysis of 23 existing master courses in the field of our research worldwide and the introduction of a case study example of a full online course from Lund University, Sweden.

This was followed the presentation of good practice examples of curriculum development collaboration from SE Asia by Prof Dr Jan Peter Mund, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development and leader of Build4People Work Package #4 “Urban Green”. It became clear that there are many options for online teaching which don’t require the physical presence of lectures (from the Global North) anymore.

After that, representatives of the local research partners introduced about their specific curriculum development activities and identified opportunities to cooperate in this field with the Build4People project. At first, there were 3 inputs from Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP): Dr Seak Sophat introduced about the ongoing master course “Master in Climate Change” and then Bunleng Se introduced about the master course “Geography” which is currently under preparation. Finally, Dr Op Vanna, research partner of Build4People Work Package #1 “Behaviour Change”, introduced about the efforts of the Department of Psychology to integrate elements of environmental psychology into the existing Bachelor curriculum and to develop a new master course focussing on environmental psychology at RUPP. Then, Dr Tep Makathy, Dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia, introduced his idea to create a new master course with the working title “Sustainable Urban Transformation Planning, SUTP”. The content of this master course not only focus on aspects of design, but shall reflect a people-led, cross-cutting approach like the one of the Build4People project. Finally, Dr. Hor Sanara, Faculty of Land Management and Land Administration at Royal University of Agriculture presented the demands and needs of his school in terms of capacity development.

This was followed by a lively discussion how to proceed the joint efforts in terms of capacity development. Among others, it was decided to form working groups related to each master course and to held meetings on a regular basis in the future.

All slides presented during the Build4People Curriculum Development Summit can be downloaded here (pdf-file, 83 slides, 2.8 MB).

Dr Vanny Sok, Vice-Rector of RUPP, welcomed Build4People’s capacity development initiative during his greeting word
Dr Justin Op, Vice-President of PUC, introduced about the Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia and expressed his interest in receiving capacity building support from Build4People
Stefan Hase-Bergen, Director of Regional Office of DAAD, Hanoi, introduced about funding opportunities
Dr Michael Waibel, Build4People consortium representative, discussing the general capacity development approaches of the Build4People project
Lena Radmer, student assistant at Hamburg University, introduced an analysis of master courses worldwide in the field of Build4People’s research
Prof Dr Jan Peter Mund, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, WP#4 leader, presented good practice examples of curriculum development collaboration from SE Asia
Dr Seak Sophat, Royal University of Phnom Penh, introduced the Master of Science in Climate Change
Bunleng Se, Royal University of Phnom Penh, introduced a tentative curriculum of a future master course in Geography
Dr Op Vannak, Royal University of Phnom Penh, discussed options to incorporate environmental psychology into the curriculum at the Department of Psychology at RUPP
Dr Tep Makathy, Dean of School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia introduced plans to establish a new master course at his school
Dr Hor Sanara, Royal University of Agriculture, illustrating the increase of students at his schools and related needs for capacity building support
Dr Hor Sanara, Royal University of Agriculture, presenting about the needs of his faculty in regard of capacity development
Discussion about the further procedure in terms of capacity development
Dr Michael Waibel, Build4People consortium leader, during concluding discussion

All in all, it was a very fruitful event full of interesting insights and mutual exchange, which set a successful first basis for future Build4People capacity development activities.