Kimmie Walker is a Professional Development Officer at the RTPI
A number of ingredients can make up your annual CPD recipe, based upon your CPD plan for the year. It is more than just training courses and seminars and comes from a wide variety of activities. There are in summary, three broad categories of CPD:
- Structured
- Self-directed
- Championing Planning
It is these three key types of learning which can be broken down into CPD hours, and which should add up to 25 hours as a minimum for the year. The RTPI provides numerous high quality learning opportunities, many of which are free, to enable members to gain CPD easily.
Structured CPD
CPD falling under this category is generally a formally led or organised training event. Many of these opportunities may be free, but others may incur a fee, which could be paid by you or your employer. Structured CPD could include:
- RTPI national or local events, webinars, or workshops
- RTPI masterclasses
- RTPI e-learning modules
- Attending seminars or lectures held by other organisations
- Enrolment on a course at an accredited Planning School
Self-directed CPD
In comparison to structured CPD, self-directed CPD is driven by you. In the main, self-directed CPD consists of free learning opportunities and may include:
- Reading appropriate practice advice notes, policy, and research, for example Living with rain: Planning for everyday life in Glasgow, or Young adults’ attitudes to car dependency and the implications for planning
- Watching YouTube channels and listening to podcasts which are focused on planning matters
- Reading The Planner magazine, bulletins, blogs, and other similar publications
- Reading relevant appeal decisions and case law
Championing Planning
This type of CPD helps to promote the profession and to shape the work of the RTPI. There are many opportunities to aid in the promotion of the profession including:
- Become an RTPI Ambassador
- Coaching and mentoring other professionals
- Mentoring students, graduates, or an APC candidate
- Deliver a presentation, make a podcast, or write articles or blogs
Or you may wish to volunteer with the RTPI. You could contribute in various ways, including becoming a Professional Discussion assessor for the Degree Apprenticeship or an APC mentor. There are also governance Roles on the RTPI Board of Trustees and Standing Committees. Additionally, you could support the development of the profession and our work with accredited Planning Schools through the Partnership and Accreditation Panel.
Some examples of CPD recipes
Recipe 1 – Planning processes: A member has identified in their Professional Development Plan (PDP) Goals and Objectives that they would like to have a full understanding of Planning in Northern Ireland and Scotland, so that they can seek employment in these two nations, in addition to their existing experience in Wales and England. The CPD ingredients could include self-directed learning in the form of reading Scotland’s NP4 and relevant circulars, as well as understanding the appeals process, or Northern Ireland’s Strategic Planning Policy Statement, Strategic Environmental Assessment and The Planning (General Permitted Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015. In addition, the member could include structured learning through attendance at a planning law event specifically focussed on Northern Ireland or Scotland.
Recipe 2 – Maintaining up-to-date planning law knowledge: A member has identified that they need to keep abreast of the latest planning law updates, as well as be aware of key appeal and case law decisions. The CPD ingredients for this recipe could therefore include attendance at planning law update seminars and webinars or reading appeal decisions related to a particular type of application, for example, the change of use of an office building to residential apartments.
Each CPD recipe and its ingredients can be tailored to suit your individual needs. To help, there is a wealth of CPD and PDP information available on the RTPI’s website. After reviewing this information, if you still have questions, or need further assistance, please contact Kimmie at [email protected]
