“Localism: Embracing the Culture of Community-Led Planning”
The School of Surveying & Planning is organising a conference on Tuesday 10 May 2011 with workshops to complement and launch their forthcoming CPD programme. The conference will be held at One Fleet Place, London EC4M 7WS.
Localism and its emphasis on community-led planning at the neighbourhood level requires planners to adapt to new ways of working with the community to foster their relationship with local people. Not only will planners have to come to terms with changes in legislation and the consequent makeover in organisational practice and delivery, they will need to adapt their skills and working practices so that they can be proactive in working with local communities planning their neighbourhoods.
This event is designed for planners from both the public and private sector, with or without experience in community planning, who recognise the opportunity to be at the forefront of Localism by ensuring they have the right kind of skills to work with and facilitate local communities to embrace their new rights and responsibilities in the planning of their neighbourhoods. With this intention, the School of Surveying & Planning at Kingston University is extending its philosophy and approach to planning education in which emphasis is placed on putting people first in the delivery of sustainable development.
Talks in the morning will be followed by interactive workshops in the afternoon. The talks are intended to highlight the opportunities that current changes can bring to the planning profession. They will address the contextual changes anticipated in planning and the contribution of planners to community involvement drawing on experiences to date. Furthermore there will be an insight into the special capabilities and competences demonstrated by planners which make them ideally suited to take on the challenge. Using this backdrop, the workshops will debate different examples of practice to avoid the pitfalls and discuss the potential for delivering successful community involvement.
This event too, is being used to launch our emerging programme of CPD sessions for those people involved in the planning process to up skill for the pending changes to planning and to strengthen technical skills on aspects of development related to zero or low carbon design and the “green economy”.
Book your place: www.kingston.ac.uk/designbookonline
Conference Programme:
9.30 Registration and Refreshments
10.00 Welcome and Introduction,
Charlotte Harris, Principal Lecturer and Field Leader in Planning, Kingston University
10.15 OPENING KEYNOTE TALK
A brief introduction on the implications and effects of Localism on the planning system
and the incentives / opportunities for planners to be at the forefront of community-led planning.
Steve Quartermain, Chief Planning Officer, DCLG
10.45 EXPLORING CULTURE CHANGE: A LOCAL AUTHORITY CONTEXT
A personal experience, exploration and reflection on the contribution of planners
to community involvement in the local authority context.
Professor Janice Morphet, Visiting Professor, UCL
11.15 MORNING BREAK
11.30 EXPLORING CULTURE CHANGE: A COMMUNITY PLANNING CONTEXT
A personal experience, exploration and reflection on the contribution of planners to community
involvement in the community planning context,
Georgia Wrighton, Lecturer in Planning, Kingston University
12.00 THE PLANNING PROFESSION’S CREDIBILITY IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Based on the findings of Kingston University in their 2008 ESRC Research Project on built environment
professional skills for sustainable communities,
Professor Sarah Sayce, Head of the School of Surveying and Planning, Kingston University
12.30 PLENARY: Questions and Answers
13.00 LUNCH: NETWORKING AND SIGN UP FOR CASE STUDIES AND WORKSHOPS
14.00 CASE STUDIES AND WORKSHOPS:
LEARNING FROM GOOD PRACTICE AND EMERGING MODELS OF ENGAGEMENT
ENGAGING DIVERSE COMMUNITIES
Applying skills and techniques to engage diverse communities in neighbourhood planning
by drawing on case studies and role play,
Patrick Anderson (Planning Aid for London)
A MODEL OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Learning from the experience of the Women’s Design Group Project, working with women from
diverse backgrounds to address gender specific issues for more inclusive neighbourhood planning,
Barbara Wallace and Amy Kennedy (Women’s Design Service)
VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENTS (SPDS)/PARISH PLANS
Applying and adapting practice in facilitating village design statements/parish plans, recognising
the strengths and weaknesses of the community-led planning process and recommendations for
successful future practice,
Dagmar Hutt and Lesley Downing, (Formerly of Planning Aid South)
PLANNING GAMES
Using selected tools e.g. Building Futures and Inquiry by Design as a role play to further develop
interactive techniques and skills for working with communities,
Nisha Kaduskar, (Community-led Urban Designer)
15.00 AFTERNOON BREAK
15.30 PLENARY: Feedback and summaries from the Workshops, Workshop Facilitators
16.15 CLOSE: Charlotte Harris