The aim of the group is to contribute to the creation and maintenance of a network of lecturers and researchers, who are willing to explore and debate new developments influencing both planning theory and practice in the light of non-linearity, resilience, adaptivity, complexity, complexity thinking and complex adaptice systems.
Coordinated by: Dr. Ward Rauws
The GOAL: improve the communication and the knowledge between AESOP members on what is the state of the art, the methodologies and the practice of New Technologies in Planning.
Coordinated by: Paulo Silva
Law is an essential element of planning. Statutory law, as interpreted by the courts, defines planning powers, the planning process, and the mandatory elements of binding development plans. Although the law often attributes a wide margin of discretion to the planning authority, it also limits planning powers for the protection of individual rights.
Coordinated by: Dr Linda McElduff
The aim of this group is to create and grow a network of researchers interested in, broadly speaking, the Europeanisation and internationalisation of spatial planning, and the various forms it takes – the creation of new, softer planning spaces and corresponding governance arrangements, the change of policies and practices through ‘travelling ideas’ etc.
Coordinated by: Prof. Dr. Giancarlo Cotella
The main intention of the urban design group is to develop a better understanding of status of urban design within planning education across Europe, and of its relationship to both the professional disciplines of planning and architecture.
Coordinated by: Dr. Alan Reeve
The Goal of this group is to create and grow a network of researchers interested in the complex interlinkages between transport behaviour, transport infrastructure, the role of technology, sustainability, governance structures and interventions.
Coordinated by: Dr Enrica Papa
This TG is based on the contention that research into planning raises ethical issues which are distinctive enough to warrant more attention than the routine references to standard social science discussions which are the usual responses of research monographs and doctoral theses. Coordinated by: PhD Claudia Daniela Basta
The Thematic Group “Resilience and Risks Mitigation Strategies – RRMS” has the overall aim to enhance debate, educational coordination, research, policies and practices on resilience strategies and risk mitigation and adaptation for sustainable spatial development within Europe
Coordinated by: Prof. Dr. Richard Sliuzas
French and British Planning Studies Group
Groupe d'Etudes sur l'Urbanisme Français et Britannique
Coordinated by: Dr Lauren Andres
This group of AESOP researchers is focused on the evaluation of planning interventions - both of physical developments and application of new tools for evaluation. Initially set up to run as a series of conferences to be held every 3-4 years with invited experts presenting case-studies of robust evaluation methods.
The early facilitators of these conferences were Nathaniel Lichfield, Abdul Khakee and Dino Borri.
The 7th international workshop was organised by Angela Hull in Edinburgh in 2008, and the 8th international workshop was organised by Johan Woltjer in Groningen in March 2013.
The main outcomes of these conferences are a series of edited books to disseminate the latest approaches to evaluation in planning. The latest book: Hull, A., Alexander, E.R., Khakee, A., and Woltjer, J., (Eds) (2011) Evaluation for Participation and Sustainability in Planning, Routledge: London.
http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415669450/
Coordinated by: Professor Angela Hull
Aims
This Group aims to bring together academics, policy-makers and practitioners from an international audience and provide a forum for discussion and development of sustainable food systems. Fashioning a sustainable food system is one of the most compelling challenges of the 21st Century. Because of its multi-functional character, food is an ideal medium through which to design sustainable places, be they urban, rural or per-urban places.
Meetings
Meetings are held annually, hosted in different cities. The four meetings that have been held so far have attracted between 80-100 participants and discussed a wide variety of issues within sustainable food planning. Further details of keynote speakers and all of the meeting presentations can be found in the blog posts.
Coordinated by: Prof. Dr. Arnold van der Valk
About the AESOP TG ‘Public Spaces and Urban Cultures’
The AESOP Thematic Group on Public Spaces and Urban Cultures has been initiated after the Annual Meeting of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) in Liverpool (UK) in 2009. In April 2010 the initiative has been recognized as a new thematic group Public Space and Urban Cultures by AESOP. In 2015, the group has decided on self-organized management structure:
AESOP Thematic Group for Public Spaces and Urban Cultures – Self-Organized Management Network
A. Group Coordination
2021-2019 Ceren Sezer (RWTH Aachen University, Germany) and Christine Mady (Notre Dame University - Louaize, Lebanon)
2023-2021 Christine Mady (Notre Dame University - Louaize, Lebanon) and secondary volunteer is to be elected
B. Research Affairs
2021-2019 Nikolai Roskamm (University of Applied Sciences Erfurt); Nadia Charalambous (University of Cyprus), Sabine Knierbein (TU Vienna); Stefania Ragozino (CNR-IRISS National Research Council of Italy).
C. Public Relations
2021-2019 Tihomir Viderman (TU Vienna) and Mohamed Saleh (University of Groningen).
Advisory Board Ali Madanipour (University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK); Sophie Watson (Open University, UK); Sabine Knierbein (TU Vienna); Gabriella Esposito De Vita (CNR-IRISS National Research Council of Italy).
The Aesop Thematic Group for Public Spaces and Urban Cultures has been founded upon an initiative of Sabine Knierbein, Ceren Sezer and Chiara Tornaghi in 2010. The aim of the group is to settle the research and design focus on Public Spaces and Urban Cultures in planning-related disciplines. For more information about the thematic group, please visit the group’s official blog: http://www.aesop-planning.eu/blogs/en_GB/urban-cultures-and-public-spaces. For questions please send an e-mail to: psucnetwork@gmail.com
Coordinated by: Dr.ir. Ceren Sezer
The AESOP Planning/Conflict thematic group aims at bringing together different perspectives on conflicts around urban planned developments, with a focus on the role planning practices may play both in defining/framing and in possibly solving/reframing conflicts. The purpose of the Planning/Conflict thematic group is to offer a durable framework for scholarly exchange, focussing on the empirical analysis of planning conflicts and promoting their critical/interpretive inquiry, in order to highlight what planning conflicts can teach us:
- about changing features of urban development policies and trends and their impact on local societies and communities;
- about changing conditions under which urban planning practices take place;
- about the effectiveness and legitimacy of established planning practices in dealing with conflicts;
- about the transformative potential that might be brought to light by facing planning conflicts;
- about the potential productive and innovative contribution of agonistic practices in view of a democratization of planning.
The AESOP Planning/Conflict thematic group is open to participants’ proposals for joint initiatives: Please do not hesitate to advance proposals!
Would you like to contribute and/or to keep informed?
Coordinated by: Enrico Gualini
The challenges presented by Climate Change are becoming more pressing as time continues. And as international negotiations are in a deadlock, cities are taking the lead in climate adaptation and mitigation. These are the places where the impact and associated cost of climate change will be greatest. However as prime sources of greenhouse gasses and polluting activities, they also offer the greatest potential for change. More and more researchers are joining the search for more sustainable and healthy cities and it is important for the planning community to be a part of this movement. By collaborating and sharing knowledge we can genuinely influence the cities of tomorrow.
We currently have a googlegroup and linked in group:
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/sustainable-cities
https://www.linkedin.com/grps/Sustainable-Cities-Thematic-Group-Aesop-8105481
If you would like to know more, do not hesitate to contact me.
Mendel Giezen
Coordinated by: Dr Mendel Giezen
This is blog describing AESOP involvement in Habitat III Process.
Coordinated by: Dr Lauren Andres
This Thematic Group aims at fostering new ideas and ways of understanding urban futures. In this sense, we encourage to consider the possible evolutions of some environmental, technological, political, social variables or conditions in the very long term and, subsequently, envision specific urban scenarios at the local, regional or global scales. These scenarios can refer, for example, to the impact of radical climate change (flooding, extreme scarcity of fresh water in given regions), pervasiveness of smart technologies or security measures, dismantling of statehood, radical modifications in current geopolitical order, massive migrations or other similar changes.
Coordinated by: Prof. Dr. Peter Ache
2019 - 2020 Plans
On behalf of Artur R. Pires and myself – as coordinators for the TG Planning education – a huge thank you for the keen interest and enthusiasm in regards to the Planning Education Thematic Group.
We had two short lunchtime meetings during the 2019 AESOP congress (9-13 July) which were filled with wonderfully lively dialogue and discussion. It was fantastic to feel the energy amongst the group members attending.
Over the next year we want to progress the ideas muted at the meetings.
The main one was to develop an AESOP Planning Educators Workshop. Conceptually, this is would be mirroring other Association activities such as the PhD workshop (AESOP) or the Writing Workshop for new scholars (ACSP, our sister association in North America). If this is successful – it would be then the goal to have this develop into a regular, annual activity of AESOP in the long term as a means to increase the profile of planning education/pedagogy in and for spatial planning. This workshop would hit all three aspects that Artur and I proposed as high level aims of the TG as well as suggestions of participants regarding publishing our work, building community (and doing research/projects together with funding).
Initial ideas are:
+ 2-day workshop that consists of a mix of theoretical inputs and practical activities
+ select a theme or two to keep the event focused (e.g. transformational pedagogies; community interaction/involvement; digital; internationalization; co-learning; becoming/being?)
+ organized in a location that is fairly easy to get to.
+ interested individuals apply for places with a Limited number of participants so that there is time and space to engage in deeper conversations.
+ apply of TG funding and other sources to make the workshop free (i.e. catering/materials/facilitator) (with travel and accommodation to be paid by participants)
It would be great to get a few volunteers and establish a working/task group to develop the Workshop idea in the next 2 months.
If you are interested – please email Artur and me (arp@ua.pt and aifrank2016@gmail.com ) no later than 31 July to let us know and we can start a dialogue and arrange perhaps a skype meeting to develop the details to a level at which we can apply for funding.
Finally, in the spirit of disseminating what is going on in terms of pedagogical research and sharing resources – please do let us know of future events, activities or publications in respect to planning education that we can share amongst our blossoming community of practice. We will work with the AESOP executive to see how we can find a suitable means to make this martial available via the website/social media. We do hope also you post your news via the AESOP news pages (if your institution is an AESOP member you can register and submit news about events via the AESOP website).
Kind regards and looking forward to working with all of you
Andrea and Artur
Coordinated by: Dr Andrea Frank
The thematic group activities aim to explore new paths for planning at the regional and metropolitan level, in a context of governance rescaling in which spatial planning policies and practices, still traditionally anchored to rigid administrative boundaries, are now challenged to be reinvented.
Processes of defining and redefining sub-regional boundaries call for spatial visioning and design for shaping the boundaries of urban regions, providing pro-active knowledge of their characteristics and trends and conceiving shared visions of their spatial development.
The performance of regional planning and the contribution of regional design practices in these settings will be the focus of the TG, relating this performance to characteristics of the institutional context.
Coordinated by: Associate Professor Valeria Lingua
Since the beginning of the 21st century China and Europe are getting closer and closer. Together, European enterprises are making more and more business in China, and more and more Chinese enterprises are investing in Europe. Tourists from Europe and China like to explore the respective other region. The one-road-one belt Initiative, driven by the Chinese government is reducing geographic distance and transport time.
The aim of the thematic group is to explore the potentialities of transferring European experience, both successes and failures, to China, and löearn from Chinese experince. It will confront European participants with the challenges of urban regeneration in Chinese cities, and it will give Chinese practitioners and academic planners an insight into regeneration practices in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden and Austria.
Coordinated by: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Yi Xin
The Thematic Group ‘Nordic Planning’ is aimed as a platform for networking and exchange of knowledge, concerning spatial planning in the Nordic context faced with global trends and challenges. The purpose of the Thematic Group is to share experiences and insights on contemporary and emerging planning challenges, in connection to various development conditions and different scales of spatial planning and governance, in particular at local- regional levels. The overarching aim is to promote spatial planning research and education excellence within and on the Nordic context, and to facilitate related peer support for the academic community, while also facilitating knowledge sharing and collaboration between
the academia and planning practice. The main form of activity are bi-annual symposia, hosted by each Nordic country in turn.
Additionally, the Thematic Group engages in arranging and facilitating PhD education, by arranging PhD workshops at least bi-annually, and sharing educational support and information of open PhD courses and seminars arranged by Nordic schools of planning individually. The aim of PhD education collaboration is to improve the quality of PhD-level planning education, share education experiences, study programs and promote development of curricula, and to support networking among young academics.
Coordinated by: Professor Raine Mäntysalo
