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© University of Vechta / Bitters/Wollstein

Study Transformation Management in Rural Areas (MA)!

 

The interdisciplinary Master's programme in Transformation Management in Rural Areas at the University of Vechta (Germany) is dedicated to the sustainable development of rural areas in the age of comprehensive cross-sectoral transformation. The programme offers courses on spatial, economic and political dimensions of the transformation of rural areas. Globalisation and regional development are addressed under the guiding principle of sustainable development.

 

Master of Transformation Management in Rural Areas - important facts

DegreeMaster of Arts (MA)
Standard period of study4 semester

Start of studies

winter semester

Application deadline30.09. - The application period starts in the beginning of June and we advise international applicants to apply as early as possible.
Requirements 
  • German language certificate for university admission (e.g. TestDaF, Telc C1 Hochschule, DSH-2 or the Goethe Zertifikat C2) or proof of German language knowledge on the level C1 (e.g. proven by attending a C1 course) for a conditional admission - please note: We offer preparatory German language courses.
  • recognised Bachelor's degree in a suitable field of study
 
InternshipA ten-week internship is part of the degree programme.
ECTS120
Language of instruction

German

Tuition feeIn principle, no fees are charged for studying at the University of Vechta (tuition fees). Only the semester fee is payable. This covers certain administrative costs and allows you to take advantage of benefits such as discounts in the refectory or free use of buses and trains in Lower Saxony.

The Master's programme in Transformation Management in Rural Areas refers to the current social issues of "transformation" and "sustainability", for which a continuous discussion and development process can be observed from an interdisciplinary scientific perspective. The programme focuses on the following topics:

  • The interdisciplinary and multi-paradigmatic orientation enables transformation processes to be analysed from an integrative spatial, economic and political science perspective.
  • Within the "rural areas" system, interactions and interdependencies between space, economy and politics are worked out, thereby creating a profound understanding of the complexity of the challenges.
  • In addition to evidence-based theoretical approaches, qualitative research methods from spatial, economic and political science in particular play a major role in the development of customised solutions.
  • The involvement of partners from business, administration and politics early on in the degree programme ensures practical relevance and opens up concrete transitions to the professional phase.

The international network of teaching staff opens up extensive opportunities for academic and professional stays abroad.

From an integrative perspective on transformation, methods for analysing and shaping transformation processes are taught and tested and deepened using selected practical examples. Seminars on innovation management, sustainable regional development and the coexistence of globalisation and regionalisation provide starting points for an extensive practical phase in the third semester, in which transformation processes in companies, administrations and other organisations are examined from a research and application perspective.

Selected questions are as follows:

  • Which determinants and factors are driving the transformation processes in rural areas?
  • How can ecological, social and economic sustainability be ensured in organisations in a dynamic environment?
  • How can we analyse and explain the diverse, interlocking, partly synchronous and asynchronous or simultaneous or opposing transformations from an interdisciplinary and integrative perspective?
  • How can guiding principle-oriented development processes in organisations, regions and society be initiated and accompanied in the sense of transformative science?
  • How do we classify political processes of regionalisation and control of local and regional interests in favour of changes in rural areas?
  • What skills are needed to critically evaluate planning processes, structures and results in regional management and marketing and in organisational sustainability management?

The Master's degree opens up areas in sustainability, corporate social responsibility, value chain management or regional management and marketing. Graduates shape change processes ("future change agents"). Places of employment include international organisations and NGOs and sustainability departments, companies working for the common good, tourism and regional marketing, development and spatial planning, social and market research and development cooperation.