Aim and eligibility
The Consultancy Award is open to non-academic organisations conducting valuable research with the potential to inform planning policy and/or practice. This includes, but is not restricted, to planning consultancies, charities and social enterprises based anywhere in the world.
To be eligible organisations must have at least one member of staff that is a current RTPI member. This person does not need to have participated in the submitted research.
As with the academic awards, entries based on collaborations with researchers from other organisations (including academic researchers) are welcome.
The lead author of the entry must not be employed at an academic institution. If the is the case, please consider submitting your entry through the ‘Academic’ or ‘Early Career’ routes.
Entries
One piece of work represents one entry, and each individual entry must be submitted separately through the online submissions portal, with a 250 word ‘research summary’.
Entries must have been first published between 1 April 2023 and 1 April 2024.
Judging criteria
Entries to this category will be judged on the strength of the publication submitted. Entrants should use the ‘research summary’ section of the submission portal to draw the judges’ attention to these criteria.
- Relevance: addresses issues and themes of current concern and relevance to spatial planning.
- Robustness & methodology: evidence of an appropriate review of relevant literature and understanding of the current state of knowledge. Evidence of sound methodological reflection leading to the choice of an appropriate methodology and methods, depth of analysis and critical abilities in handling the qualitative/quantitative results.
- Outcomes: clearly presented results that achieve a better understanding of the subject and/or the development of new fields of enquiry.
- Dissemination and impact: implications of the research and analysis for planning policy and/or practice.
