Redesigning the Post-Industrial City (RePIC)

Most of the world's population lives in urban areas which challenges us to rethink more sustainable urban futures and, as the European Commission notes, to shape resilient societies and economies. To this end, the alliance of the European University of Post­-Industrial Cities (UNIC) has collaborated to create a unique interdisciplinary joint-Masters programme Redesigning the Post-Industrial City (RePIC).



UNIC is inclusive, non-traditional, urban, and unique. UNIC students can actively participate in the transformation of society by developing an understanding of local city environments and by creating research-based solutions to its problems and challenges.



About this Course

Redesigning the Post-Industrial City (RePIC) is a two-year, English-taught Master's programme jointly designed and delivered by the UNIC alliance – where the ambition is to build a vibrant knowledge and innovation community committed to the rethinking of more sustainable urban futures. RePIC fosters transformative modes of teaching, research, and learning - responding to the specific challenges and characteristics of post-industrial cities and their increasingly super-diverse populations.



RePIC will use the ECTS credit system to facilitate the recognition of qualifications and actively defines mobility periods for students between each of the University partners which include:



University College Cork, Ireland (UCC)

Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands (EUR)

University of Deusto (Bilbao), Spain (UDeusto)

Ruhr University Bochum, Germany (RUB)

Koç University (Istanbul), Turkey (KU)

University of Liège, Belgium (ULiège)

University of Oulu, Finland (UOulu)

University of Zagreb, Croatia (UZagreb)

Outline

The focus of the research-led RePIC curriculum is the contemporary challenges posed in industrial heritage settings. Viewing the city as an experimental living laboratory, RePIC understands the post-industrial city as a complex system that is characterised by physical, political, and historical development paths, limits, and dynamic social, economic, ecological, and cultural vectors. The course is interested in finding new learning and action practices in reconceptualising the civic, cultural, and socio-urban fabric of the post-industrial city.



RePIC students explore the potential for the post-industrial city to act as a milieu for continuous civic immersion asking how it can be cultivated to inform debates around the construction of social identities and experiences of cultural dissonance. Based on this perspective, it will adopt participatory approaches and methods - such as CityLabs, Urban Field-Classes and Engaged Research Practices - and foster public-private-academic-societal partnerships.



RePIC’s vision is to develop a new network of urban thinkers with the capacity to contribute to future-oriented, avant-garde thinking on the revitalisation of the post-industrial city. If you are curious and interested in the questions about how we can revitalise post-industrial cities, this might be the programme for you.



Student Mobility

An important part of the joint curriculum is the integration of mobility pathways for students between the UNIC Universities across Europe. Building on the complementary strengths of the UNIC alliance of eight European Universities, RePIC will provide for a life-changing physical and virtual student mobility experience and serve as a catalyst for innovative learning and action practices including structured project collaboration, social design studios, digital storytelling, and immersive design fictions.



Throughout the programme, there will be several collaborations involving community groups, academia, and specialist researchers. This will involve team-based practices and co-design approaches – and align the curriculum with specific City Lab challenge areas in different European cities. Thanks to this, RePIC students can acquire important intercultural and multilingual skills while gaining valuable experience of different European cultures during their studies.



Through this integrated mobility scheme, RePIC students not only get to know different examples of post-industrial cities as locations of the partners but also have the opportunity to deepen their intercultural competencies.

The two-year (120-credit) programme encourages research-led learning and will enable students to engage in co-design, co-production, and co-creation processes for the sustainable transformation of the post-industrial city and to explore the city.



The course is divided into four semesters within which students are offered several mobility options. RePIC students start together in the first Semester. In the second Semester, you will decide on one of four tracks - where each track is jointly delivered by two partners. The curated programme pathway encourages you to follow and evolve your own individual interests and include the following:



Track Options



Urban Transformations and Resilience (UCC/ULiège)

Diversity and Social Justice (KU/EUR)

Urban Analysis: Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities (RUB/UOulu)

Governance of Post-Industrial Cities (UZagreb/UDeusto)

Depending on the track chosen, students move to another university. In the third semester. students can decide on in-depth studies or practical training in a profession or in research at another host university. In the fourth and final semester, and considering the multidisciplinary nature of the programme, the students can choose among three forms of dissertation/thesis: a traditional dissertation, or research manuscript aiming at publication, or a practical project accompanied by documentation. The dissertation will be jointly supervised by two of the Partner Universities.



Semester Coursework & Locations

1 Coursework in Germany (RUB) and CityLab excursion to Ireland (UCC)

2 Coursework based on selected track options at one of the partner universities (UCC-Ireland, KU-Turkey, RUB-Germany, or UZagreb-Croatia)

3 Coursework in Belgium (ULiège) or engaged research placement in Ireland (UCC)

4 Dissertation work at one of the partner universities



Semester 1 (30 credits)

Module AT6017 RePIC CityLab & Design Research Studio: Urban Analysis, Digital Design Strategies & Design Visualisations (10 credits, UCC, prior to semester start at RUB)

The Post-Industrial City: Society, Space & Environment (10 credits, RUB)

RePIC Urban Sustainability Transformations Seminar Series (5 credits, RUB)

Research Methods & Academic Writing: Ethics, Modalities & Co-Design Techniques (asynchronous online classroom/forum) (5 credits)



Semester 2 (30 credits)

Module AT6019 Research Design Studio: Salvaging & Transformations of the Post-Industrial City (15 credits, UCC)

Module AT6020 Research Methods II: Digital Storytelling & Immersive Fictions (5 credits, UCC)

Module GG6018 Conceptualising Society, Space, & the City (10 credits, UCC)



Semester 3 (30 credits)

Module AT6021 CityLab & Field Salon (10 credits, UCC)

Module AT6022 Structured Learning & Engaged Research Placement (15 credits, UCC)

Research Methods III (5 credits, RUB)



Semester 4 (30 credits)

Module AT6023 RePIC Dissertation (30 credits, UCC)

Applicants from diverse backgrounds who meet the necessary entry requirements and admission criteria listed below may apply for this programme.



Each year, RePIC may accept a study cohort with a total capacity of around 60 students. Admission may be granted to applicants who are not in conflict with national legal requirements for admission and meet the following eligibility criteria:



Applicants must submit all necessary application documents according to the joint application procedure established by the RePIC Admission Committee by the established deadline day.



Applicants must have acquired a qualified Bachelor's degree (Level 8, NFQ) with a dissertation, or an equivalent degree, that gives them access to a Master's degree programme with a total grade above average indicated in a Transcript of Records



Applicants and demonstrable experience in themes related to redesigning post-industrial cities and design-related background. including but not limited to in the following fields: Architecture, Urban Design, Urban Planning, Geography, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Geoinformatics, Sociology, Public Administration, Culture, Media, Visual Art, and other related fields of study.



Applicants have to submit a motivation letter in which they provide a reflection about the content of the degree programme, and state their specific interest in the RePIC programme and their envisaged contributions to the programme.



Applicants require a recognised qualification in the language of instruction (English).



Language Requirements

Applicants that are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the University-approved English language requirements. Please visit our Postgraduate English Language Requirements page for more information.



Entry Requirement Notes

Applicants submit their application through the central RePIC Application Board.



Submitted applications will be checked for completeness and ineligible candidates will be rejected. Eligible and well-qualified candidates are chosen by the Joint RePIC Admission Committee according to the following selection criteria:



• Type and level of academic qualification according to grades

• Type and level of documented research experience

• Type and level of prior knowledge and professional experience in the field

• Persuasive power of the motivation letter

• Results of admission interviews (if applicable)



RePIC considers itself to be an inclusive programme and intends to recruit students worldwide. This will increase the accessibility of the Master's programme and the diversity of its student population.



The RePIC Board of Directors will develop and implement an Equality and Diversity Awareness Programme and, as part of the application process, ensure the collection of nationality, gender and disability data.



Travel Visas and Residency Permits

It is the responsibility of the students to check that the authorisations required for visa and residence permits are in order before the Partner Institution permits the student’s activities in the RePIC degree programme to take place for students with or without an Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters (EMJM) scholarship. The Partner Institutions will make every effort to aid students in obtaining any necessary visa and residence permits before their studies commence.



Approval

Note this programme is subject to approval before starting.

Closing Date See RePIC application board: https://repic-application.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/

2 years full-time.



Venue

UCC campus and UNIC venues across Europe (virtual & physical)

Start Date September 2024

Skills and Careers Information

You will have the opportunity to create unique partnerships for career advancement: as part of this programme you will network not only with employers through City Labs but employers across Europe.



Career opportunities will be varied including:

Governmental organizations at local, national, European, and international levels (Public Urban Planning, Metropolitan Planning)

The Third Sector, Foundations, NGOs engaged in Neighbourhood or Community Development, Urban Development or Transformation

Companies (consulting, design, architecture, planning, construction) focused on metropolitan transitions (energy, labour market, mobility, health, education)



Our graduates will be excellently qualified to not only start attractive careers in various areas of the public and private sectors they will be well placed to work in university and non-university research.