Johanna Rosier

Growing Future Planners: A Framework for Integrating Experiential Learning into Tertiary Planning Programs

The planning industry expects that tertiary planning education will prepare graduating planners with practical planning skills, applicable in an increasingly complex world. However, planning schools are not required to systematically include practice or experiential learning in curriculum. In this article, we explore the benefits of experiential learning, highlight gaps in application of the concept, and present a framework for integrating experiential learning in planning education at a tertiary level. The framework comprises core principles, applied to a range of experiential activities, scaffolded across an undergraduate planning program to provide increasing engagement in practice.

The benefits of embedding experiential learning in the education of planners

Abstract In a future of complexity, uncertainty and fragmented governance we envision planning graduates who will be better prepared for the real world of planning as a result of an experiential learning (EL) approach in undergraduate tertiary education. In this paper, we present the findings of an Australian research project in which planning educators developed and tested a range of experiential planning principles based on sound pedagogical theory. Embedding EL principles and activities within the planning curriculum provides a structured programme of engagement between theory and practice over the four years of an undergraduate Australian planning programme, including opportunities for work-integrated learning. Students gain experience in negotiated decision-making involving a wide range of interactions with planning practitioners. Students become more adaptable—cognizant of mechanisms influencing change, and recognize the value of lifelong learning founded on critical reflection. We propose that a more systematic approach to integrating experiential learning in tertiary planning education culminating in ‘work integrated learning’ would provide a vehicle for further partnerships with responsive local practitioners and communities. Finally, this paper also argues that applying experiential learning does not compromise the quality of planning education based on greater academic rigour.

Baseline survey of current experiential learning practice in Australian and New Zealand planning schools

Experiential Learning (EL) activities within higher education planning programmes provide opportunities for students to learn workplace skills and knowledge within ‘real-world’ contexts. Despite the documented theoretical benefits of EL there is a lack of information on current EL practice in tertiary institutions. Researchers undertook a baseline survey of current EL activities and associated assessment practices used in accredited university planning schools in Australia and New Zealand. Survey responses were received from 18 universities, with 15 out of 23 accredited planning programmes in Australian universities and 3 out of 4 equivalent planning programmes in New Zealand universities. The survey results suggest that some planning programmes are using EL activities to a greater extent than others and there is a diverse understanding and inconsistent vocabulary associated with EL activities. While having a guest speaker was the most used EL activity less than half were linked to assessment. By comparison, other EL activities, such as work experience, always had an assessment component. The survey provided a foundational understanding of current EL practice to inform a larger multi-university research project Experiential Learning in Planning Education (see www.usc.edu.au/explearning) which aims to develop a consistent approach to EL and resource materials for tertiary planning education.

Planning Canada: A Case-study Approach

Fifty contributors from across Canada in various planning contexts ensure that the case-studies in this book comprehensively cover current issues facing practitioners in the Canadian planning syste...

Effectiveness of Planning to Preserve Natural Character in New Zealand's Coastal Landscapes

The New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement (NZCPS) was New Zealands first national policy statement prepared under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) by the Minister of Conservation to guide regional and local planning for coastal environment management. Preservation of the natural character of the coastal environment is one of the most significant issues facing councils. Therefore, this article reports on the part of the 2004 NZCPS review relating to the assessment of natural character policies and methods in plans and policy statements in terms of their consistency with the NZCPS. Because this is the first assessment of national policy under the RMA, there are lessons which may guide the preparation of future national policy statements. The 2004 NZCPS review concludes that NZCPS policies have been comprehensively accepted by regional councils in preparing regional coastal plans. However, the policies have only been partially implemented by local government. Implementation of the RMA requirements for ...

Role of the State in coastal governance and effective planning for effects of climate change: Queensland, Australia

ABSTRACT This paper explores the extent to which State and local government-driven coastal planning in South East Queensland, Australia, manages the science–policy interface in coastal planning and governance, and uses the results of interviews with professional people working in Queensland’s coastal planning system to identify opportunities and constraints in dealing with the implications of a changing climate. Finally, the article suggests meaningful lessons for improving coastal planning. This analysis will be carried out using principles of good governance, derived from theory, in relation to leadership across State and local government agencies; integrating science into policy and managing risk and consequences when considering coastal hazards.

Stories of practice: tourism policy and planning

design, governance and communication in helping both long-established and newly arriving individuals and groups to get the ‘best out of themselves and each other’, as the author implores in his preface. In so doing, Heywood can confidently claim that this book has clearly achieved its upfront stated ambition to ‘provide a simple and widely applicable vocabulary of needs, wants, activities and choices ... that can assist the necessary collaboration’. (Typical of his ‘walking the talk’ approach, the finish of the Table of