Undergraduate courses Geography and Planning
This programme is taught in French.
field(s) of training :
Humanities and Social Sciences
diploma level :
Bachelor's degree (three-year degree)
duration of the program :
3 years
Course overview
When you think of geography, you think of the study of maps: but geography is a science encompassing multiple fields! Physical geography, human and social geography, land planning... Do you want to learn how to analyse changes of our world from various perspectives? The Bachelor's degree in Geography and Planning is made for you!
This three-year programme relies on diverse analysis methods and tools: statistics, geographic information systems (GIS), qualitative and quantitative survey techniques, surveys, and fieldwork. You will acquire a wide range of skills and knowledge including analysing the interactions between spaces and societies, studying social inequalities and territorial disparities, and understanding of public planning and environmental policies at all scales.
Highlights
To study the interactions between societies and their environment, there are tools you need to master and apply in the field! To do so, the Bachelor’s degree in Geography and Planning lays emphasis on computer lab work (especially to learn mapping and data processing software) and field trips.
Welcoming international students
Since 2019, the University of Caen Normandy has been awarded the "Bienvenue en France" label by Campus France, highlighting the quality of the university's welcome for international students.
Application requirements
Entry requirements
To enrol in this programme, you must have completed secondary education, and obtained a high school diploma equivalent to the French baccalaureate, preferably with majors in history-geography, economics and social sciences, life sciences, and mathematics.
Specific conditions
Entry requirements for Year 2 or 3
If you have completed another bachelor’s programme in Geography, Planning or Social Sciences, you can apply for Year 2 or Year 3 on eCandidat.
Apply and register
The registration process takes place in 3 steps:
Application process
Admission and registration requirements may vary depending on your nationality, country of residence, foreign secondary school leaving certificate, and the nature of your programme of study. Discover how to apply to the University of Caen Normandy.
Course structure
Courses
- Take place at Campus 1 (Caen)
- Amount to approximately 20 hours per week. Additional hours are necessary to read bibliographic references and work on assignments.
- Are completed by internships and numerous field trips are an integral part of the curriculum.
Course units
The Bachelor’s degree in Geography and Planning follows a progressive curriculum. Each year, more than half of the courses focus on geography. You will therefore develop both a general and disciplinary culture in multiple fields:
- Issues related to climate change, environmental management
- Geomorphology
- Risk management
- Water at the interface between environment and society
- Social geography
- Regional planning and urban development
- Urban and rural geography
- Geopolitics, globalisation
- Development geography
You will also learn to master the methods, tools, and analytical techniques specific to geography:
- Statistics
- Database processing
- Cartography
- Geographic information systems
- Qualitative survey techniques and field surveys
- Mastery of visual methodology
- English
Moreover, throughout your degree, you will be able to customise your path by choosing additional courses, such as
- History
- Sociology
- Economics
- Gender studies
Thus, in the second and third years of the undergraduate programme, you will be able to choose to strengthen your skills in a geography specialty, such as
- Social Geography
- or
- Environmental Geography
Internships and placements
The Geography and Planning degree includes a mandatory one-week field internship in the last semester of the third year (S6).
Coursework and assessment
The programme lasts three years, each divided into six semesters. Courses are grouped by skills, called teaching units (UE). Examinations are held through coursework and exams in each course on a scale from 0 to 20, 20 being the best grade. Grade compensation is organised without eliminatory marks and on the basis of the general average obtained in every course unit:
- Over each semester
- Over the 2 semesters of the same year
To successfully complete a semester, you must have an average mark of at least 10 points out of 20. If you have not completed your semester, you can retake the courses units you failed; you do not have to retake the courses in which you have obtained at least 10 points out of 20.
If you successfully complete your 6 semesters, you will receive your bachelor's degree.
Language
The programme is taught in French.
Study abroad
Would you like to go abroad as part of your bachelor's degree? Thanks to the agreements of the Geography Department of the UFR SEGGAT, you can go on exchanges as part of
- Erasmus exchange agreements:
- Murcia (Spain)
- Joensuu (Finland)
- Würzburg (Germany)
- Milan (Italy)
- Inter-university agreements
- Maracaibo (Venezuela)
- Puebla (Mexico)
- Saint-Louis (Senegal)
- French-speaking universities in Quebec
- Possibility of accessing wider agreements of the University of Caen Normandy (Asia Exchange, North America...)
Learning outcome
By the end of this programme, you will be able to:
- Conduct territorial assessments (analyse demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental data of a territory and identify areas for intervention in territorial development)
- Master interview and survey techniques (survey design, interview guide, sampling and collection protocol, data processing…)
- Master the methods, tools, and techniques of statistical and cartographic processing, and geographic information systems (GIS) applied to the fields of planning, risk management, and environmental resources
- Express yourself in French and English, both speaking and writing (written summary and oral presentation, communication techniques...)
- Work in a team
Further study
Once you have obtained your bachelor's degree, you can pursue your studies towards:
- Teaching exams, such as prepared by the INSPE Normandie · Caen.
- Specialised master's degrees:
- Geography, planning, environment, and development in
- Urban planning and development
Once you have obtained the second year of the undergraduate programme, you can also pursue professional bachelor's degrees, including two offered by the UFR SEGGAT:
Careers
The bachelor's degree is the first step to pursue careers related to geography and planning. According to our last surveys, 8 out of 10 students went further with their studies after graduating from their bachelor’s degree. Hence your career will depend on your specialisation and the diploma you pursue after your bachelor’s.
Geography encompasses numerous opportunities in the following sectors:
- Planning, urban planning, and local development
- Environment, risk, and global change
- Geomatics, cartography
- Teaching
- Spatial data management
Address
Université de Caen Normandie
UFR SEGGAT · Sciences économiques, de gestion, de géographie et d’aménagement des territoires
Esplanade de la Paix · CS 14032 · 14032 Caen Cedex 5
France
Course leader
Responsable de la licence : Benoit Raoulx · benoit.raoulx@unicaen.fr