Master of Environmental Planning

The Master of Environmental Planning comprises two 500 Level Practicum papers equivalent to 30 points each and a dissertation equivalent to 60 points. One of the Practicum papers may be replaced by an approved elective, or alternatively, students may choose to complete a 90 point thesis in place of the dissertation.

As an applied masters degree with a research component, the programme will encourage higher level applied research into aspects of environmental planning.

The main aim of the degree is to encourage students to develop specialist knowledge, breadth and depth of understanding, and independent judgment, in relation to planning practice. Students who are conducting their internship will be asked to reflect on academic planning literature in the light of their practical work experience. The internship structure proposed for this degree provides an ideal way to encourage close interconnections between theory and practice across a broad range of issues, topics and work practices.

Graduates of the MEP will have:

• the ability to collect, present, interpret and evaluate qualitative and quantitative data with particular regard to observation, interview, survey, etc. procedures
• a capacity to synthesise and integrate information
• experience in policy and plan preparation and evaluation
• experience in monitoring and reviewing techniques
• the ability to analyse, overview and scope problems
• the ability to evaluate research and pedagogical methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses
• the ability to effectively communicate information, arguments, and analyses in a variety of forms, to both specialist and non-specialist audiences
• the ability to apply underlying concepts and principles outside the context in which they were first studied, including the application of those principles in an employment context
• the ability to conceptualise, design and implement a project and to adjust the project in the light of unforeseen problems
• the ability to work and negotiate effectively in a team, and to produce work collaboratively
• the ability to locate, evaluate and use information in a range of contexts, in both print and electronic form
• competence in written, verbal and graphic communication

http://www.waikato.ac.nz/wfass/