About BUDS
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Being an international lecturer, I recognise the value of exposing students to different cultural contexts. I want my students to experience other cultures and become more critical and thoughtful individuals and professionals. In order to do that I have created BUDS – a co-curricular activity focusing on fostering cross-cultural, real-life experiences of urban design and planning for students from Brookes and from partner universities in Brazil.
The first run of BUDS was in May 2013 (BUDS 2013) when a team with five Planning students and I went to Brazil to work on a three-week project collaborating with universities (Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina e Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul), local councils and deprived communities in the cities of Florianopolis, Porto Alegre and Pelotas .
Following the philosophy of Paulo Freire (1970), the model adopted for BUDS questions traditional hierarchies and encourages partnership between lecturers and students. All students are engaged in the project as partners and help building the concept, organising activities and fundraising. For the students who took part in the first run of BUDS, the value of the experience went far beyond the provision of an international context for understanding urban design. The exposure to different aspects of Brazilian culture and their work with local communities on problems caused by a high degree of social inequality offered Brookes students a transformative experience:
Laura provided me with my most rewarding educational experience to date by encouraging me to participate in a cross-cultural learning experience [BUDS]…involving real life situations, elements of which I have been able to carry forward into my professional life (SK, MSc student).
The impact of BUDS is also strong amongst the students from Brazilian universities, as evidenced below:
The work […] raised students’ interest for urban design and started a series of masters’ research projects …We had three final year students’ projects using the BUDS’ methodology shortlisted for national awards (Dr. Eduardo Rocha, Coordinator, Masters in Architecture and Urbanism, Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel), Brazil).
The dissemination of the first experience of BUDS raised students’ interests in taking part in co-curricular activities at Brookes. BUDS 2013 encouraged the development of other co-curricular activities and research locally involving our partners from Brazil (Universidade Federal de Pelotas) and well attended by undergraduate and postgraduate students from across the Faculty. The success of BUDS 2013 also resulted in a higher number of students wanting to take part in its second edition of the project.
BUDS 2015 counted with nine students from various cultural backgrounds who were equally engaged in fundraising, organising and delivering workshops and lectures in Brazil. The trip took place in April 2015 and the team travelled to the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Pelotas and Sao Jose do Norte. Amongst the main learning experiences were a visit to Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro and a discussion about the Olympic Park in the offices of AECOM Brazil. In Curitiba the group was received by the Municipal Planning Department and was able to experience and learn about the model Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system which puts the city at the forefront of transport led planning and development.
In the city of Pelotas the students engaged with staff and students (undergraduates and posgraduates) from the course of Architecture and Urbanism of the Universidade Federal de Pelotas to build on the work started in BUDS 2013 and further develop a cross-cultural approach for the development of urban design principles for delivering sustainable urban extensions in contexts of fast growing economies and high development pressure.
BUDS 2015 was sponsored by Brookes Alumni and by Santander Universities as well as by the Brazilian government funding for a research on internationalisation of the curriculum of postgraduation courses in Brazil developed in collaboration between Universidade Federal de Pelotas and Oxford Brookes Univeristy - CrossCult.
by Dr. Laura Novo de Azevedo
BUDS coordinator