Master of Science in Conservation

The Master's Program in Conservation will provide in-depth theoretical and practical knowledge and skills that prepare students for both studies at the postgraduate level, as well as professional activities in the field of conservation.

The program is based on the field of integrated conservation of built environments, which is cross-disciplinary by nature and represents possible in-depth directions towards buildings, built environments, urban landscapes, and cultural landscapes, and how these can be described, cared for, analysed and developed through concrete conservation practices and strategic planning processes.

Activities within this field can also be described as a combination of partly an operational level in the built-up landscape, partly a more strategic level for development and conservation. The professional and academic field of integrated conservation of built environments addresses the complexity of this landscape where history and present time are represented through interpretable properties and qualities constantly shaped and changed through the wills, intentions, interests and limitations of individuals and groups, and how this complexity can be managed in regards to the major challenges facing society.

This professional and academic role is thus largely about being able to understand the preconditions for changes that have been made and will take place, how different stakeholders have worked today and historically to pursue different intentions affecting built environments, how conflicts of goals between different directives and guidelines at national and international level can arise, how problems, opportunities and different consequences can be formulated, and what supporting data and information need to be described, analysed and handled in an operational context.

Bachelor’s degree comprising at least 180 higher education credits (hec), or equivalent foreign degree, and with at least 90 hec in the conservation subject area.

For international applicants, proficiency in English is required through internationally recognized testing, e.g. TOEFL or IELTS, with results corresponding to English 6 / English Course B from the Swedish upper secondary school.

In addition to studies at the Department of Conservation, the conservation subject area may include bordering subjects such as architecture, history of built environments, ethnology and art history, cultural geography, economic history, urban and land-use planning.

For students with such back ground an individual assessment of the applicant’s qualifications will be made.

This programme leads to a Degree of Master of Science (120 credits) with a major in Conservation (Filosofie masterexamen med huvudområdet Kulturvård).

The master's degree in conservation is obtained after the student has completed course requirements of 120 higher education credits including at least 90 second-cycle hec of which at least 60 hec are in the main area conservation. Courses of a maximum of 30 higher education credits from the first cycle may be included in the master's degree.

For the master's degree, the student must, within the framework of the course requirements, have completed an independent work (degree project) of at least 30 higher education credits in the main area of conservation.

The Master's program consists of two years of full-time study, where the first academic year consists of courses comprising a total of 60 higher education credits, and the second academic year can consist of:

- either an exchange semester of 30 higher education credits (eg through Erasmus or MFS) or courses at another institution totalling 30 higher education credits, or internship, and a thesis of 30 higher education credits, or
- a thesis of 60 higher education credits.

The first academic year consists of the following courses:

- Built environments and management of change, 7,5 hec
- Advanced methods for documentation and analysis of built environments, 15 hec
- Space, place and landscape, 15 hec
- Built environments and contemporary challenges, 15 hec
- KUA410 Research methods in cultural heritage conservation, 7,5 hec

The second academic year consists of electable courses, to be decided in consultation with the program coordinator:

- KGM906 Erasmus BIP: Applied heritage planning, 7,5 hec
- Industrial heritage – regeneration and adaptive reuse, 15 hec
- Individual courses, 7,5 respectively 15 hec
- Erasmus-exchange
- Courses at other universities in Sweden
- Internship

General outcomes for Degree of Master (120 credits)

Knowledge and understanding
For a Degree of Master (120 credits) the student shall

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the main field of study, including both broad knowledge of the field and a considerable degree of specialised knowledge in certain areas of the field as well as insight into current research and development work, and
• demonstrate specialised methodological knowledge in the main field of study.

Competence and skills
For a Degree of Master (120 credits) the student shall

• demonstrate the ability to critically and systematically integrate knowledge and analyse, assess and deal with complex phenomena, issues and situations even with limited information
• demonstrate the ability to identify and formulate issues critically, autonomously and creatively as well as to plan and, using appropriate methods, undertake advanced tasks within predetermined time frames and so contribute to the formation of knowledge as well as the ability to evaluate this work
• demonstrate the ability in speech and writing both nationally and internationally to clearly report and discuss his or her conclusions and the knowledge and arguments on which they are based in dialogue with different audiences, and
• demonstrate the skills required for participation in research and development work or autonomous employment in some other qualified capacity.

Judgement and approach
For a Degree of Master (120 credits) the student shall

• demonstrate the ability to make assessments in the main field of study informed by relevant disciplinary, social and ethical issues and also to demonstrate awareness of ethical aspects of research and development work
• demonstrate insight into the possibilities and limitations of research, its role in society and the responsibility of the individual for how it is used, and
• demonstrate the ability to identify the personal need for further knowledge and take responsibility for his or her ongoing learning.

Local outcomes

Knowledge and understanding
Upon completion of the programme, the student shall be able to:

• independently from a cultural heritage base and with a broad resource perspective, identify and problematize opportunities and challenges in working with individual buildings, built environments and cultural landscapes;
• describe and clarify existing buildings, built environments and cultural landscapes in projects and other collaborations as a resource for reuse and sustainable change

Competence and skills
Upon completion of the programme, the student shall be able to:

• independently and on the basis of current research theories investigate and document buildings, built environments and cultural landscapes through in-depth skills in current methods
• independently problematize and formulate proposals for resources management, adaptive reuse and development of buildings that are well founded in established conservation theory and practice and in relevant legislation.
• discuss and argue independently out of their own knowledge base, in various forms of collaboration on change of buildings and built environments.

Judgement and approach
Upon completion of the programme, the student shall be able to:

• describe and evaluate the consequences of building change and other measures through in-depth impact descriptions
• discuss and critically relate social and ethical consequences of socio-cultural, economic ,legal and practice-related initiatives and processes

Starting with admission to the fall semester 2025, this program plan replaces previous plans.

Students admitted to the program under older plans, can, after individual assessment of previously completed courses, be prepared for access to studies within the program where the mandatory courses are studied to the extent they are missing in the previous course of study.

The student may be required to cover certain costs related to study visits, excursions, internships, etc.

The study programme will be followed up and evaluated in accordance with the applicable Policy för kvalitetssäkring och kvalitetsutveckling av utbildning vid Göteborgs universitet (Policy for the Quality assurance and Quality Development of Education at the University of Gothenburg).

All courses during the first academic year are compulsory, but can also be studied as free standing courses.

Students who follow the program at a normal pace are guaranteed a place in the compulsory courses within the program. For access to the program's courses, the student must pass their exams at a normal pace.