Capstone Project
Layout sketches
A capstone is a project commissioned by a private or public organization. The capstone outputs are designed to provide key expertise in the management of urban problems and local governance of large metropolis. A capstone is based on an original applied research, through global urban comparisons, or evidence-based conceptualization, or the mobilization of new data for a case study, or an impact study, or a prospective study, or the organisation of a conference, of a training project, and so on.
Skills
Through a strong commitment in their capstone, students improve their knowledge on policy design and implementation. They also acquire fundamental professional skills related to:
- Project management
- Contents negotiation and project reframing
- Public speech and effective presentation
- Time management
- Team work
- Archive organisation and documents classification
- Budgeting and project accountability
Students are encouraged to assess their skills improvement all along the capstone. Specific training may be organised on precise techniques (camera use, in-design software, advanced mapping,…).
Workload
Students work by team of five, 1.5 days a week for five months (mid January-mid June), with a professional tutor. It is granted with 6 ECTS credits. Some capstone projects may require a fieldwork abroad.
Roles
Each students team is organised by roles. Students cooperate in every capstone activity, but each of them is in charge of a specific task.
- Coordinator
- Treasurer
- Communication Officer
- Mediator
Students from different capstone teams meet regularly for improving their knowledge related to their specific role.
Professional Orientation
Students choose a capstone project on the basis of their vocational project. They are invited to specialise on a region as well as on a policy sector. They have to make an explicit link between the capstone, the cluster of specialisation in the third semester and their plan for an internship in the fourth semester. The capstone is one of the building block in the process of vocational choice and orientation toward the labour market.
Some published capstones
- APUR (PDF-7,8 Mo) - Short-term rentals: an analysis of metropolitan public responses
- OpenDataSoft - The Movilidata Project : Open Data for Better Mobility in Bogota
- Paris IDF Capitale économique (FR) - Greater Paris, global Fab lab of the large scientific and technical equipment?
- APUR - Paris-London, one single metropolis?
- CMI - Should the Grands Ensembles be demolished? A video-documentary
Some examples of 2019 capstones and their sponsors:
- Féderation Internationale de l’Automobile: Identifying and scaling innovations in urban mobility and transportation
- APUR: Digital advertising regulation in the large metropolis : comparative study
- Société du Grand Paris: The dynamics of citizen participation in urban infrastructure projects
- AREP: The integration of informal economy in urban renewal projects
- Aéreoports de Paris: How to reconcile biodiversity and large infrastructure for transportation development?
