Victoria Hills MRTPI FICE is Chief Executive at the RTPI
With most school-aged children now back in classrooms across the UK and Ireland, there was no let-up in the work of the Institute over the summer holidays on its Education for Everyone project!
You will be receiving an email with a survey on the context and direction of travel for initial planning education being conducted for us by Research by Design. The Institute and its Board of Trustees can only act if we know what members’ views are.
You will be aware of all the information and work to date on the Education for Everyone hub on the RTPI website. The background is to create a comprehensive plan to ensure that the education of ‘future planners’ and RTPI members – from outreach in schools and then moving through professional career stages – not only attracts the diverse talent the industry needs but adequately equips this talent with the skills required to deliver sustainable development. This education review forms part of our broader aims for a diverse and responsive profession from the 2020 – 2030 Corporate Strategy that also incorporates a review of the APC . An important outcome is to look at how to open up pathways into the profession, but without reducing the academic standards and professional benchmarks required to access chartership. The RTPI’s 2020-2030 Corporate Strategy provided the vision and framework for opening careers in planning to a wider cohort from a variety of educational backgrounds and to seek to address any unintentional barriers to a future career in planning.
As the world continues to rapidly change around us, it remains clear that the requirements of a modern planner have changed considerably since the RTPI’s last education review over 20 years ago in 2003. With considerations of the environment and UN Sustainable Development Goals and the continuing but evolving importance of working in the public interest I’m pleased the institute is leading the way on researching these issues.
The wider review exercise should not stop at universities of course, and includes current accreditation expectations around work experience gained on-the-job to demonstrate university knowledge and learning in the workplace. This means we need as many employers as possible to step up and support planning graduates through a period of mentored practice to get them ready for the APC. That is an excellent preparation for a career commitment to lifelong learning as part of the Code of Professional Conduct and CPD as a professional qualified planner.
It comes as no surprise to anyone that the current resourcing and pressures facing those in the planning system are making life increasingly challenging, but the sector is united in its agreement that more must be done to meet the resourcing requirements. The Planner’s annual careers survey has highlighted that there is a shortage of qualified planners. The Institute has several projects in train such as student bursaries, apprenticeships and ambassador initiatives and Education for Everyone is therefore an umbrella programme that brings the delivery of all these elements together. The work so far has concentrated on the Institute's accreditation procedures and guidance and whether they remain fit-for-purpose. Once the RTPI Board of Trustees has considered whether changes to the existing Policy Statement on Initial Planning Education are necessary by the end of this year, the project will then look at opportunities in 2025 linked to the current APC arrangements which may mean potential changes to the process, guidance and models of assessment in due course. We are not the only professional institute in the built environment who are looking at this matters, and we will continue to work closely with our sister institutes to foster a culture of collaboration.
We really need to hear from you, our members working daily across the variety of disciplines and sectors in our planning profession. Both I and the project team look forward to hearing from you via the survey. For any feedback about the survey or the project as a whole, please contact [email protected]
