Spatial planning schools across the globe need to prepare the current and future generations of spatial planners to effectively contribute to the climate resilience of cities and human settlements.
The recently released report of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reinforces the urgency for transformative mitigation and adaptation actions in the world’s cities. This Urban Thinkers Campus brought academics and students from many of the world’s best schools of spatial planning together to share their experiences in developing and delivering curricula on planning for climate action. The outcome of the event is a knowledge base of innovative curricula and pedagogical practices that will support the wider dissemination of climate action as a major theme in planning schools, discourses and practices. The event was hosted by the University of Twente, the Netherlands in collaboration with UN-HABITAT, the Planners for Climate Action network and representatives of several partner universities.
We are particularly interested to share the experiences of planning schools in introducing learning activities that are focused on or give substantial attention to climate action, including substantive topics (e.g., related to infrastructure, decarbonisation, renewable energy, housing, ecological innovation, etc.), procedural issues (e.g., related to planning processes, inclusiveness, engagement, social justice, deliberative democracy, civic initiatives and, etc.) and pedagogical innovations in teaching and learning.
The UTC helped to:
- Identify innovative and effective practices in the design and execution of spatial planning curricula
- Strengthen the Planners for Climate Action network
- Assemble knowledge about planning education for city-level climate action that can feed into related processes and events such as the UN Climate Change Conference COP26, the Innovate for Cities Conference, the World Urban Forum and the 5th World Planning Schools Conference.