99504 - Service Design

Learning outcomes

The course aims at providing students with an up-to-date understanding of Service Design and Design Thinking, with an emphasis on sustainable tourist services. The distinguished feature of the course is the use of these participatory methodologies and tools to enhance cultural tourism in a multiscalar perspective, encompassing historical and geographical approaches. At the end of the course, students will be able to: (a) identify the different scale of cultural heritage including the Unesco Tangible and Intangible Heritage Lists and the European Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe; (b); recognize the main sustainability issues concerning the design of cultural tourism services; (c) understand the main concepts used in service design and design thinking; (d) select and apply the appropriate design thinking tools and methods to develop or renovate tourism destinations; (e) participate in a fieldwork that applies the learned participatory methodologies.

Course contents

This is a joint course given by prof. Patrizia Battilani and prof. Alessia Mariotti and includes both classroom lectures, group work in class, seminars and a fieldwork. The fieldwork destination as well as the main goals and aspects on which it will be based, will be defined at the beginning of the course.

The lectures will cover the following topics:

I Module

1 – Cultural tourism destinations: patterns and trends (PB)

2 – Cultural tourism sustainability and the Unesco conventions (PB)

3 – Cultural tourism and the creative industries: the case study of music (PB)

4 – Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (CR of CoE): definition, dimensions, typologies, programs, challenges, practices, and policies (AM)

5 – Tourism and sustainability in international institutions: conventions, programs, norms, narratives and visions on tourism and sustainability across Europe and the UN (AM)

6 – Tourism and intercultural dialogue: governance, networks and interregional cooperation patterns (AM)

7 - Service design: introduction and main tools (PB)

8 - The business model canvas and the value proposition canvas (PB)

9. The Personas (PB)

10. Stakeholders map and participatory models in tourism planning (PB)

I Mid term exam on the contents of the first 10 lectures

II Module

11 – Residents participation models and urban regeneration (PB)

12 – Evaluating sustainability in tourism: the geographical approach (AM)

13 – Evaluating sustainability in tourism: case studies form the CR of the CoE (AM)

14 – Evaluating sustainability in tourism: case studies form the CR of the CoE (AM + invited speaker)

15 – Evaluating the socio-cultural carrying capacity of tourism destinations: a qualitative approach (AM)

16 – Project design for cultural tourism in a sustainable development perspective (AM)

17 – Fieldwork preparation (AM)

18 – Fieldwork preparation (PB)

19 – Fieldwork (PB)

20 – Fieldwork (AM)

II Mid term exam: project work presentation

Readings/Bibliography

The assigned readings, the power point presentations and other teaching materials will be made available throughout the course.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures, teamwork in class, seminars and a fieldwork are included.

The fieldwork could include a visit to a tourist destination and the meeting with the stakeholders. On the basis of the collected information and classroom lectures, students will prepare an original project work. The main goal of the latter will be defined at the beginning of the course.

 

In consideration of the type of activity and the teaching methods, the attendance of this course requires the prior participation of all students in the following online training modules: Moduli 1 e 2 di formazione sulla sicurezza nei luoghi di studio, [https://elearning-sicurezza.unibo.it/].

Assessment methods

Students attending lectures:

The I Mid term exam will be a written exam of 3 open questions, based on the contents developed in the first 10 lectures of the course. It will make possible to assess the theoretical knowledge acquired by students.

The maximum possible score for the I Mid term exam is 30 cum laude, in case all answers are correct, complete and formally rigorous. The minimum score to pass the exam is 18.

The II Mid term exam will be based on a project work through which students could implement the skills and the critical abilities developed as regards to: interpretation of cultural heritage and its use in tourism; the evaluation of the relationship between tourism and heritage; tourism feasibility studies for cultural product and ability to communicate the main results in a report; use of service design tools and methods.

It will be in the form of a power point presentation and an discussion of the original project work students will develop during the II module on the specific topic proposed in the fieldwork.

The maximum possible score for the II Mid term exam is 30 cum laude, in case the project work is well developed and presented. The minimum score to pass the exam is 18.

The final mark will be the average of the I and II Mid term exam results.

The grade is graduated as follows:

<18 failed
18-23 sufficient
24-27 good
28-30 very good
30 e lode excellent

If the exam's mark is higher than 18/30, students can refuse it only once.

It is not possible to use books, personal notes or electronic devices during the mid term exam. Registration for both the exams is compulsory, and students have to register through AlmaEsami [https://almaesami.unibo.it/almaesami/welcome.htm] according to the general rules of the School of Economics, Management and Statistics.

Non attending students:

Non attending students should make a contact with both professors prior to the exam session.

They will be asked of:

• Attend (in person or online) the digital literacy course made available by AlmaDL;
• develop a literature review essay of at least 15 pages (25.000 digits) on one of the following topics: a) Cultural tourism and the CCI; b) Arts landscapes; c) Cultural Tourism and Education; d) Cultural Tourism and Climate Change; e) Cultural Routes and Cultural Europeanisation.

Erasmus students:

Erasmus students are allowed to split the course and include only the I module in their learning agreement. Due to organizational issues for the fieldwork, the II module can be chosen only by students who include the whole course in their LA.

Office hours

See the website of Patrizia Battilani