Master of Science in
Environmental, Culture and Land Economics
CULTURE ECONOMICS AND POLICIES (EPC)
The Culture Economics and Policies (Economia e Politiche della Cultura, or EPC) curriculum aims to provide students with thorough expertise about the deployment of cultural resources and creative industries as a key factor in regional development, as well as a driver of welfare and social cohesion, within detailed territorial contexts.
Students majoring in Culture Economics and Policies will acquire the skills required to eventually manage the profound connection between territories and the enhancement of their cultural heritage. The learning outcome of this curriculum is to qualify the student to actively participate in strengthening regional development, focussing on cultural resources, sustainable tourism, and creative industries.
SYLLABUS (2018/2019 and 2019/2020)
The Culture Economics and Policies curriculum encompasses the first year of core courses mandatory for everybody – some of which are in common with the second curriculum (EPA) that composes the MSc. Elective courses and further eligible activities such as laboratories and workshops make up the second year. Training credits for elective courses can be also chosen within the syllabus of other Masters of Sciences within the University of Turin (e.g. from Geography and Territorial Studies, Cultural Heritage, History of Art, or Urban Studies and Planning) or from Masters held by the Polytechnic University of Turin.
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Each year, all students in their first year have to present their coursework plan (Piano Carriera) via their own account on the University's website. The scheduled window to do that usually encompasses all the first period of classes, during the autumn; more precise dates will be provided on the "Bulletin Board" on the homepage. In addition to compulsory courses, the second year is usually made up of four elective courses with 6 ECTS each, whilst the 3 ECTS labelled as "further activities" may be devoted to a laboratory, a workshop, or a curricular internship. Exams awarding more than 6 ECTS might also be selected as elective, since it is allowed to exceed by 6 further ECTS what is the ordinary amount of ECTS in a MSc (i.e. 120), adding up to 126 ECTS (thus, a fifth elective course may be added too, or alternatively two more labs).
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Students will have to choose thereby both the nature of their attendance to classes (full-time or part-time, whether they work in the meanwhile) and the entirety of their own coursework plan, throughout both the two years. Nevertheless, please note that the choice of the second year's elective courses may well be illustrative at first, as it can be modified subsequently during a further window of opportunity, normally in springtime. Conversely, the choice upon the attendance should no longer be edited. Further information on this topic is provided at this link.
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Hereafter you can find the syllabuses for academic years 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 (temporarily available in Italian only):
Note that these syllabuses are complete with all elective courses, laboratories, and - in the footer of the document - a suggestion of often-chosen courses from the syllabus of other Master's Degrees within the University of Turin, and also some others, which are directly held by the Polytechnic University of Turin. Please do not forget that the choice of the latter is subject to prior approval, according to the number of available places.
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The learning outcome will consist of a final Master Thesis (either a research thesis or a comparative dissertation). Research theses frequently happen to take place in the form of an internship, either in Italy or abroad, possibly within the frame of Erasmus+ funding. All information related to the procedure to follow while approaching the final dissertation, as well as all the deadlines that must be respected, is available at this link.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
The most relevant career opportunities provided by this curriculum are connected to the evaluation of regional strategies for development and cultural policies of a region, thus entailing the assessment of demand-supply dynamics for cultural services. Urban regeneration and integrated project management within the frame of EU, nationwide or local programmes, are excellent examples of this growing sector of employment.
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More specifically, the most frequent job opportunities of the Culture Economics and Policies curriculum have been the following:
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Cultural policymakers for public institutions, public-private partnerships, firms and NGO’s that thrive in the field of cultural economy and promotion of territories;
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Analysts, researchers, and project managers for international organizations (such as UNESCO);
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Heritage protection agencies located at the various tiers of multi-level governance;
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Urban management and urban planning departments within local and regional institutions;
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Tourism promotion departments within local, regional, and national institutions;
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Entrepreneurs in cultural and tourism-related activities;
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Scholars at centres of studies, universities, research institutes and think tanks, both public- and private-funded.
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As regarding the technical skills, the “toolbox” students will learn to master includes:
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Monetary valuation techniques regarding local heritage and project management in the field of regional development and cultural enhancement;
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Geo-referenced databases management and spatial data processing via GIS software;
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Drafting plans for the promotion of a territory nationwide and/or at the EU level and implementing them;
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Cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment for cultural policies;
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Legal framework regarding the cultural heritage at national and EU level, in order to hone the students’ skills in consultancy to firms and NGO’s;
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Learning strategies for the growth of tourism and to improve the density of cultural services, by enhancing the cultural industries sector.
