Postgraduate Course: Transport and Society (fusion online) (EFIE11346)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh Futures Institute |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | "Transport does not merely serve society: it shapes society, as in turn society shapes transport. The future of each is dependent on the other..." (Lyons, 2004).
This course will introduce students to current transportation systems, their inter-relationships with society and place, the data and approaches needed to meet increasingly complex transport design challenges, and the future of transportation technologies and scenarios in a climate change world. |
| Course description |
In this course, students will learn to understand current transportation systems, their interrelationships with society and place, the data and approaches needed to meet increasingly complex challenges, and the future of transportation technologies and scenarios.
Going beyond traditional transportation engineering, this course will examine these issues through the interdisciplinary lenses of systems and futures thinking. Students will gain in-depth knowledge of the 'what, why, and who' of transportation systems, and the complex interrelationships between these components, that give rise to outcomes around equality, sustainability, and health. Approaches to understanding, modelling, and assessing transportation systems will be covered, to enable students to identify opportunities and gaps in application to different challenges. Students will learn futures thinking approaches, and explore specific future scenarios (in terms of both technologies and sociotechnical design). Overall, this course will provide concepts and methods that will enable students to characterise and analyse transport & society challenges, both in the present day and in the future.
Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) - Online Fusion Course Delivery Information:
The Edinburgh Futures Institute will teach this course in a way that enables online and on-campus students to study together. This approach (our 'fusion' teaching model) offers students flexible and inclusive ways to study, and the ability to choose whether to be on-campus or online at the level of the individual course. It also opens up ways for diverse groups of students to study together regardless of geographical location. To enable this, the course will use technologies to record and live-stream student and staff participation during their teaching and learning activities. Students should note that their interactions may be recorded and live-streamed. There will, however, be options to control whether or not your video and audio are enabled.
As part of your course, you will need access to a personal computing device. Unless otherwise stated activities will be web browser based and as a minimum we recommend a device with a physical keyboard and screen that can access the internet.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 5 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 12,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 7,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
78 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Summative Assessment:
The course will be assessed by means of the following assessment components:
1) 2000 Word Essay (100%)
Students will be required to select a transport and society challenge relevant to their local area and academic interests, and answer the following questions in an essay format:
- What is the transport challenge?
- How has it shaped and been shaped by society?
- To solve the challenge, what:
a) data, tools, and methods would you propose using (or developing)?
b) key actors should be included or consulted?
c) critical context should be considered?
- Thinking approximately 15 years into the future, how might the answers to the above change?
Length: 2000 words (excluding references & appendices)
This will be assessed on the extent to which students demonstrate clear critical understanding of concepts in the course and are able to use these to analyse their selected transport & society challenge. Essay questions are deliberately broad to enable flexible application to students from different disciplines, but will be accompanied by more specific guidance and the expectation is that students will respond to these with in-depth well-referenced analysis relevant to their own background and academic interests. |
| Feedback |
At the start of the intensive period students will present their selected transport and society challenge and will receive verbal feedback from their peers and the educator(s).
Two weeks before the assessment submission date, all students will have a formative feedback session to provide guidance on their final essay submission.
Coursework support and feedback will be via 4 x 1hr sessions at different times in 24hr clock to support international students and their home locations. These are group sessions where students select the best time for them from the 4 available time options.
Students will receive written feedback on their final essay assessments. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the role of transport design and delivery to meet societal challenges.
- Demonstrate knowledge of future transport technologies and scenarios.
- Demonstrate knowledge of systems and futures thinking approaches relevant to transport and society interactions.
- Acquire the ability to independently identify relevant data and approaches relevant to solving future transport challenges.
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Reading List
Indicative Reading List:
Essential Reading:
Lyons, G. (2004). Transport and society. Transport Reviews, 24(4), 485-509. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144164042000206079
Auvinen, H., & Tuominen, A. (2014). Future transport systems: long-term visions and socio-technical transitions. Eur. Transp. Res. Rev. 6, 343-354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12544-014-0135-3
Chatterjee, K., & Gordon, A. (2006). Planning for an unpredictable future: Transport in Great Britain in 2030. Transport Policy, 13(3), 254-264.
Lucas, K., Stokes, G., Bastiaanssen, J. & Burkinshaw, J. (2019). Inequalities in Mobility and Access in the UK Transport System. Office for Government Science.
Scottish Government (n.d.). Scottish National Performance Framework. https://nationalperformance.gov.scot/
Recommended Reading:
Bedinger, M., Beevers, L., Walker, G.H., Visser-Quinn, A. & McClymont, K. (2020). Urban Systems: Mapping Interdependencies and Outcomes to Support Systems Thinking. Earth's Future, 8(3), e2019EF001389. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EF001389
Doyle, M., Gilbert, A., & Morgan, H. (2020). Future of Transport: User Study. Department for Transport.
European Parliament (2019). Artificial intelligence in transport: Current and future developments, challenges, and opportunities. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2019/635609/EPRS_BRI(2019)635609_EN.pdf
Jittrapirom, P., Bekius, F. & Führer, K. Visioning future transport systems with an integrated robust and generative framework. Sci Rep 13, 4316 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30818-2
Soria-Lara, J. A., Ariza-Álvarez, A., Aguilera-Benavente, F., Cascajo, R., Arce-Ruiz, R. M., López, C., & Gómez-Delgado, M. (2021). Participatory visioning for building disruptive future scenarios for transport and land use planning. Journal of Transport Geography, 90, 102907. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The course will create an environment which fosters a mindset of enquiry and lifelong learning; aspiration and personal development; and engagement with the wider world. This contributes to the following graduate attributes and skills.
Research and Enquiry:
Graduates will:
- Problem-solve, through: creating, identifying and evaluating options in order to solve complex problems.
- Analysing facts and situations and applying creative thinking to develop the appropriate solutions; asking questions.
Employ analytical thinking, through: analysing, synthesising, and critically and methodically appraising thoughts to break down complex problems into manageable components.
- Employ analytical thinking, through: building the capability to evaluate information thoroughly; identifying assumptions, detecting false logic or reasoning and defining terms accurately in order to make an informed judgement.
Personal and Intellectual Autonomy:
Graduates will:
- Hone ethics and social responsibility, through: recognising and addressing ethical dilemmas, social responsibility and sustainability issues, applying ethical and their own/organisational values to situations and choices.
- Develop creativity and inventive thinking, through: thinking creatively and managing the creative process in oneself and in others; thinking outside the box; being adaptable, and learning how to manage complexity and self-direction; being curious, creative, and taking risks; developing higher-order thinking and sound reasoning.
- Hone decision making, through: being able to make, implement and review decisions based on appropriate techniques; analysing facts and situations and applying creative and inventive thinking to develop the appropriate solutions.
Personal Effectiveness:
Graduates will:
- Develop planning, organising and time management skills, through: an ability to prioritise; an ability to plan and effectively use resources to achieve goals; resilience and the ability to recover from setbacks.
Communication:
Graduates will be effective at:
- Interpersonal skills, through: use of appropriate communication styles through understanding the needs of others and empathy towards them; ability to read, write, present, listen, influence and network; communicate interactively; have difficult conversations/deal with conflict effectively.
- Verbal communication and presentation, through: developing oral communication of complex ideas and arguments using a range of media; enhancing verbal communication, including listening and questioning; communicating and persuading, both orally and in writing; articulating and effectively explaining information.
- Cross-cultural communication, through: sensitivity to and understanding of the diversity in people and different situations including online; the skills to operate in a global environment with cross-cultural and remote working; multicultural and global awareness; capacity to thrive in a globalised society and economy, and an awareness of other cultures; ability to adapt communication style for different people, situations and cultures.
- Written communications, through: communicating complex ideas and arguments in writing using a range of media from formal writing to social media; the ability to produce clear, structured written work; articulating and effectively explaining information. |
| Keywords | Sustainability,Inequalities,EFI,PG,Level 11,Transportation,Systems,Future Infrastructures |
Contacts
| Course organiser | |
Course secretary | Mr Lawrence East
Tel:
Email: Lawrence.East@ed.ac.uk |
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