Universidad
Politécnica de Madrid

The Master's Degree in PROJECT PLANNING FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT is an official Master’s Program of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) and is fully integrated in the European Space for Higher Education. The Master’s training program is based on the varied and rich teaching, research and professional experiences of professionals which have worked in the field of rural development and environment management for decades.

The Master’s Program offers direct access to the PhD Program of the Technical University of Madrid – without the necessity to study more courses. Master pre-enrolment in www.upm.es/helios 

The Master program complements the experience of research groups, such as GESPLAN www.ruraldevelopment.es and SILVANET, with the participation of noted professionals in the Proyect (2009-2011) and Planning (2011-12) areas'. Besides guest professor from other universities gave lesson, including Stanford (USA, 2009-2010) or Berkeley (USA, 2010-11).

The Program is focused on research in specialization lines with their correspondent objectives, namely:

- Planning and Management: Improvement of the planning and management in the development programs and identification of the elements which defined the different planning models.

- Evaluation: Design of suitable methodologies and participatory approaches and tools for the evaluation of development interventions. Such design is also addressed to decrease the lack of an appropriate scientific basis in the decision making process by the institutions in charge of promoting development projects.

- Project Management. To provide a conceptual and practical framework (knowledge, skills, techniques, tools and practices) to assist the training of project managers.

- Human Development: Research focused on fighting against poverty, inequality, food insecurity and achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

- Technologies and methodologies for sustainable management: Design of methodologies and tools developed with a sustainability approach from the beginning of the planning activities and that allow the conservation of biodiversity.

- Quantitative methods for stocktaking of natural resources and management of the territory: through modelling, statistics methods, remote sensing and GIS.

- Quantitative methods in decision making: Development and application of methodologies for the development of decision making systems with socioeconomic and territorial information integrated.

The Master’s Program is open to students who hold a bachelor’s degree from any country as long as the degree required four or more years of study.

Master objetive is to train specialists in planning and evaluation of rural and local development projects and sustainable management of their biodiversity.

The Master is given in one academic year from September to July. Classroom lessons starts at October.