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Funding Information: To all the students and tutors of the iWater Summer Schools, with a special mention to those who kindly answered the questionnaire. We also thank the iWater Project funded by the INTERREG Central Baltic Programme 2014–2020. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022. Through this paper, we investigate the key characteristics of planning studios and how they relate to new demands in planning education. The research is conducted through an analytical framework that is applied to a highly transferable case study (iWater Summer Schools). Results confirm that the prototypical characteristics of planning studios can support the design of multidisciplinary, research-oriented, personalized, and intensive courses, and that all these demands can be simultaneously satisfied. In addition, results indicate that positive alignments and connections can be established between different pedagogical variables (e.g., learning methods, assessment methods, provided skills) and the educational demands mentioned above.

Keeping in mind the need of defining specific conditions for each specific hunting preserve, the Game Management Plan of the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan establishes a set of directives to demarcate the hunting areas, the fauna reserves and the areas for restocking of game. It also defines the management works and the role that hunters, together with other actors, can play in the management of natural areas.

The Natural Environment Plan of the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan defines the conditions to make compatible nature conservation, public use, fire protection and forest management. It also estimates the labour and monetary impact of the permitted economic activities (biomass production, wood extraction, honey production, etc.) and of the management works. This impact is not very remarkable in terms of money and job creation but it is socially essential in order to recover the relationship between local communities and their natural areas. Finally, the Plan explores the different actors (administrations, collectives, associations, etc.) which could participate in the management of forests. The Natural Environment Plan includes the following pilot projects: (1) Models for the management of forest areas, (2) Timber and biomass harvesting, (3) Network of forest nurseries.

The Tourism and Public Use Plan of the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan assumes and develops the methodology defined in the Plan for the Touristic Areas of the Valencian Region for the promotion of tourism in rural areas. According to this methodology, a set of objectives is proposed for the provision of services, for the more effective utilization of existing services and for the promotion of tourism. In a second stage, the plan defines a series of actions and programmes aimed at the implementation of the previously mentioned objectives. The Tourism and Public Use Plan is deeply interlinked with other sectoral plans, since visitors are expected to use or enjoy the elements defined in many of them. The plan also emphasizes the role that traditional villages and towns should play in the provision of touristic services, in order to foster compact urban fabrics and support their economic activity. The plan includes a pilot project promoted by a local entrepreneur and aimed at the establishment of a company specialized in family tourism.

The Cultural Heritage Plan of the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan includes a detailed inventory of the existing cultural heritage and then continues to define three cultural sectors or systems linked respectively with the three main physiographical corridors that have historically supported the human presence in the Sierra Calderona: The Gatova-Olocau ravine, the Portaceli ravine and the Serra-Naquera ravine. In addition, the plan proposes a set of objective and measurable criteria for prioritizing the rehabilitation and reactivation of the cultural heritage. The Cultural Heritage Plan includes the following pilot projects: (1) Rehabilitation and reactivation of the abandoned hamlet of Olla and (2) Rehabilitation and reactivation of “La Prunera” mountain lodge (constructed in 1914).

The Socioeconomic Development and Sustainability Plan of the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan incorporates the information and proposals of all the sectoral plans that have clear and direct economic implications (natural environment, agriculture, livestock farming, game management, urban planning and wellbeing, tourism, etc.). In a subsequent stage, it defines a set of objectives, programmes and management structures for its implementation. The same process is followed in relation to Sustainability, where, in addition a monitoring system based on ecological footprints is proposed. This very transversal plan includes the following pilot projects: (1) Identification of strategic economic activities, (2) Professional and business training programme, (3) Sustainable mobility study, (4) Study for the improvement of regional metabolisms.

The Governance and Implementation Plan of the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan proposes the creation of an inter-municipal office for the Management of the Strategic Plan. This office would be jointly supported by the five municipalities that promoted the Strategic Plan and, in order to avoid extra costs, it would mainly utilize existing human and material resources. In addition, the Plan analyses different options to increase cooperation between the partner municipalities. These options include a commonwealth of municipalities, a consortium, a local action group and the definition of agreements for specific issues. From a broader perspective, the Governance and Implementation Plan reveals the increasing need to define new regional models of administration and governance, in order to deal with possibilities and problems that exceed conventional administrative boundaries. Finally, since the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan is an informative and non-binding document, the plan explores different ways to link it with statutory Local and Regional Plans (Planes Generales de Ordenacion Urbana and Planes de Accion Territorial) and with the Management Plans of the Sierra Calderona Natural Park.

Following the identification of the adequate areas for extensive grazing and stockbreeding and after establishing in these the types of cattle (sheep or goats) and the maximum number of animals that would be sustainable, the Livestock Farming Plan of the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan outlines the management systems for this activity. In addition, the plan explores the additional incomes that can be derived from livestock farming and its contribution to fire prevention. The plan includes a pilot project for the establishment of an extensive livestock farm in Olocau that was developed in collaboration with a local entrepreneur.

After delimiting a set of Urban Management Units, the Urban and Well-being Plan of the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan defines guidelines to improve the quality and sustainability of compact traditional villages, dispersed housing states and industrial states. These guidelines are based on the following objectives: promotion of multifunctionality; efficient use of the urban land; increase of densities in selected urban sites, improvement of public transport, soft mobility, public spaces and public services, introduction of sustainable building types and definition of coherent green-blue infrastructures. The overall goal is to improve the levels of environmental, social and economic sustainability, decrease the urban ecological footprints and promote more integrated and lively communities. The Urban Plan includes the following pilot projects: (1) Sustainable improvement of the “Pedralbilla-Torre de Portaceli” housing estates; (2) Bank of Urban Spaces.

Following the methodology proposed by the Landscape Regulations of the Valencian Region (Generalitat Valenciana 2004) and considering some useful references, such as the Strategic Landscape Plan for the Torrevieja and La Mata Lagoons Natural Park (Galan 2009); the Calderona area was divided into a series of landscape units and the main environmental, cultural and visual landscape resources were identified. The resultant information was essential for the definition of a regional Open Space System (or Green Infrastructure), which was developed in more detail in their urban sectors. This Green Infrastructure became a primary element in land-use planning, a regulator of urban growth and established an interconnected network between natural, agricultural and urban areas. In addition, the Landscape and Land-Use Plan of the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan includes the following pilot projects: (1) Network of routes in the natural environment, (2) Naquera River Park, (3) Olocau River Park and (4) Landscape and Visual improvement of the CV333 road.

This chapter presents the current situation of the south-central area of Sierra Calderona from an environmental, cultural, social, urban and economic perspective. In this context, a number of topics have been defined that, through a systematic, proactive and cross-sectional approach, are intended to establish a solid base from which to propose both objectives and strategies for the sustainable development of the municipalities located in that region. The list of topics include: natural environment, agriculture and livestock farming, urban environment and well-being, infrastructures and mobility, cultural heritage, tourism and public use, landscape and territorial models, regional sustainability, socio-demography and local economy. The whole procedure of analysis and diagnosis was supported by a public consultation process, involving both residents and visitors, in which participants were asked to indicate the major problems and opportunities they perceive in the above-mentioned thematic areas. Within the addressed thematic areas, the Plan focused on the aspects most relevant for the socio-economic and sustainable development of the five municipalities covered by the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan (Serra, Naquera, Olocau, Marines and Gatova).

Based on the results of the “Analysis and Diagnosis” and the Public Participation Plan, developed during the second stage of the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan, this chapter proposes a set of fifty-two “Regional Objectives and Strategies” that were informed by a Public Participation Plan and that were organised in the following topics: Natural Environment, Agriculture and Livestock Farming, Urban Environment and Well-being, Infrastructures and Mobility, Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Public Use, Landscape, Sustainability, Socio-Demography, Economic activity and Governance. The strategies for the Sierra Calderona are presented in the form of brief texts and schematic drawings. The information in this chapter guided the drafting of ten Sectoral Plans and eighteen Pilot Projects, which defined the main frameworks and tools for achieving the defined objectives through the proposed strategies.