Abstract:

At the Higher Technical School of Architecture (ETSAV) of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), a pedagogical teaching experience was developed during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 academic years within the framework of an Educational Innovation and Improvement Project (PIME: Proyecto de innovación y mejora educativa). The primary objective was to enhance the collaboration and integration of legal aspects through collaborative work, utilizing project-based learning, group dynamics, and a vertical workshop across subjects. To facilitate this horizontal and vertical collaboration, work was carried out in urban areas within the same municipality, thus applying the service-learning methodology.

During the second academic year, the DANA of 2024 severely affected many municipalities in the Valencian region and has since generated intense debate on the role of urban planning and land use in the face of new climate challenges. All of this has also generated greater motivation among students in the subjects related to this topic. This growing interest on the part of society and students has encouraged the group of teachers to advance in the design of the subjects based on the experience and results of previous courses.

This article presents the design of the Urban Planning subjects linked to this experience to be developed in the territorial area of the Poyo ravine in the municipalities of Picanya, Paiporta and Benetússer, with a special focus on the service-learning methodology and the incorporation of current issues related to climate change and its risks. We believe that this methodology is particularly relevant in this context for several reasons: firstly, because it allows us to work on urban areas based on their territorial logic, beyond municipal boundaries. Secondly, it allows us to address territorial challenges from a teaching perspective and promote critical thinking about the state of a familiar territory. And thirdly, due to the collaboration of public administrations in these specific areas. Their interest in being the subject of study and their involvement in providing information, current needs and promoting public participation processes can be decisive in improving the link between the university and society. The experience aims to observe how service learning and the motivation it generates in students can be used to address and introduce these territorial challenges through teaching, and to generate urban proposals with a positive social and territorial impact.

Keywords:

Pedagogical innovation, service-Learning, urban planning, spatial planning, collaborative learning.