Creating Regional Futures: A Scenario- Based Inter- and Transdisciplinary Case Study as a Model for Applied Student- centred Learning in Geography MARTINA FROMHOLD-EISEBITH*, BERNHARD FREYER**, INGO MOSE † , ANDREAS MUHAR ‡ & ULLI VILSMAIER ^ *Department of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Germany, **Department of Sustainable Agriculture, BOKU University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Austria, † Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany, ‡ Department of Landscape, Spatial and Infrastructure Sciences, BOKU University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Austria, ^ Department of Geography and Geology, University of Salzburg, Austria ABSTRACT Human geography students face changing qualification requirements due to a shift towards new topics, educational tasks and professional options regarding issues of spatial development. This ‘practical turn’ raises the importance of inter- and transdisciplinary work, management and capability building skills, with case study projects and student-centred learning providing suitable approaches. This paper introduces the example of the teaching and research project ‘Leben 2014’: Students, faculty and local actors have collectively worked out future development scenarios for a rural region in Austria, actually creating impact. The project may thus serve as a model that inspires similar schemes in other countries. KEY WORDS: Regional development, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, case study, project work, student-centred learning, knowledge application Introduction Qualifications and competences that should be achieved by university students in (human) geography have been changing over the past years, driven by various challenges. On the one hand, students trained to become school teachers in geography are expected to convey insights into the complex, systemic nature of spatial processes to their pupils, associated with a trend towards practical work, ‘real world’ encounters and external learning sites. On the other hand, professional options for geography students have diversified and generally shift away from teaching at school towards actively managing issues of spatial or regional development (which applies at least to various central European countries, such as Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland and others). In order to further support career relevance of geography teaching in higher education, universities should ISSN 0309-8265 Print/1466-1845 Online/09/030409-23 q 2009 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/03098260902982401 Correspondence Address: Martina Fromhold-Eisebith, Department of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Templergraben 55, D-52056 Aachen, Germany. Email: m.fromhold-eisebith@geo.rwth-aachen.de Journal of Geography in Higher Education, Vol. 33, No. 3, 409–431, September 2009