Learning Opportunity in Spain!

ICRPS participants will have the chance to learn about international policy development while in Spain in 2007! The Grup de Recerca en Desenvolupament Rural of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (DRUAB) is hosting the fourth edition of the ICRPS summer institute to be held in the beautiful medieval town of Solsona in Catalonia, Spain

(www.ajsolsona.net/en/ciutatsolsona). This year's summer institute will have a special focus on endogenous sources of development in rural areas, emphasizing different methods of analyzing and comparing public policy in Canadian, European and American contexts.

Schedule and Activities

Following a welcoming reception to be held on the evening of June 24th the program will commence on Monday, June 25th in the city of Barcelona, where participants will become acquainted with the unique social and political dimensions of Spain's autonomous region of Catalonia.

After a brief stay in Barcelona the group will make its way to the historical town of Solsona where the summer institute will be stationed. Classroom lectures and discussions will be combined with frequent fieldtrips to witness practical examples of rural development in the region. Interactive exercises and simulation games will also be undertaken to enrich the pedagogical impact of the summer institute. One such simulation exercise will have participants develop a local rural development plan for European and North American case study areas.

A series of international guest lecturers and speakers expert in a variety of disciplines and professional domains of importance for rural areas will add depth and enrich the program. This in turn will act as a catalyst for debating the similarities and differences evident in policy analysis internationally. Examining policy issues confronted by both the public and private spheres will provide an excellent opportunity to better assess the impact of policies at all levels and by all players.

At the end of two fulfilling weeks of comparative rural policy study where topics such as: the new rural paradigm, global trends in rural development, local action groups, rural tourism, rural entrepreneurship, rural migration, rural development plans and strategies, periurban and landscape management, and rural services have been covered, the summer institute will return to Barcelona where it will conclude in the evening of Saturday, July 7th. A detailed program agenda will be available soon on the ICRPS website.

Fees

To find out about the tuition fees for the ICRPS summer institute, please contact one of the partner universities (see Core Faculty)

For more information and a full brochure on the 2007 Summer Institute click here

To access the Programme for the Summer Institute click here