Foundations for the Future is PIA’s 2008 review of planning education. The Institute wants to update its Education Policy to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the profession and to do this, it needs to identify the scope and trends affecting education and training in planning, and reflect on the Institute’s role in supporting and promoting planning education. Foundations for the Future requires broad participation from various sectors to shape the effectiveness and future direction of PIA’s education involvement and agenda.

The Planning Education Discussion Paper released in March, sets the context for this review and provides key questions and recommendations for consideration. Current PIA policy focuses on course accreditation, but Foundations for the Future is broader. It aims to identify trends and issues of importance to planning and planning education, and possible or preferable ways these may be effectively addressed by the Institute.

Comments and submissions about Australian planning education are invited. Opportunity will also be provided for discussions and forums on various topics related to planning education. 

The consultation phase of Foundations for the Future will continue until 31 August 2008.

Planning Education Discussion Paper
The PIA National Education Committee commissioned a discussion paper to inform the review of PIA’s Education Policy. (See below for information on the background to Foundations for the Future.) The Planning Education Discussion Paper, released in March 2008, provides a thorough summary of issues and trends in planning education. It sets out a wide range of key questions which must be addressed, and makes recommendations for PIA policy and activity.

PIA commends the Discussion Paper to all parties with an interest in Australian planning education, and invites comment on it. Two versions of the Paper are available for review:

• Full version Planning Education Discussion Paper
• Summary version Planning Education Discussion Paper Executive Summary
• The Discussion Paper is also available from PIA National Education & Membership Manager from telephone number (02) 6262 5933.

Comments & Submissions
Submissions to Foundations for the Future are welcome from any party with an interest in planning education. This includes, but is not limited to, employers, universities and academics, students and recent graduates, planners and professionals in related fields, PIA members and non-members.

In particular, PIA invites comments on the questions and recommendations raised in the Planning Education Discussion Paper. Input is sought on the following issues:

1. What are the key skills and capabilities required of planners? What knowledge and experience are relevant to effective professional planning practice?
2. How best can planning education (each provider and as a whole) develop the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes and experience of those who require it?
3. What is the role of accreditation in planning education?
4. What responsibilities do various stakeholders have in planning education, and what role should PIA play?

Submissions should be made to:
EMAIL education@planning.org.au
POST  PIA National Education Committee
Planning Institute of Australia
P O Box 5427
Kingston ACT 2604
FAX  (02) 6262 9970

For more information, telephone (02) 6262 5933.

Forums and Discussions
A series of Foundations for the Future consultation sessions will be held across Australia to provide opportunities for people to debate and discuss the issues of planning education in a collegial forum. Dates and locations will be advised on this website, and in PIA publications.

Opportunities also exist for key stakeholders to meet on specific issues with representatives of the PIA National Education Committee.

To register your interest in a Foundations for the Future forum in your area, or in a meeting with a PIA representative, please e-mail PIA National Education & Membership Manager or call PIA National Office on (02) 6262 5933.

Background
Foundations for the Future is part of a regular review by the Planning Institute of Australia of its policy positions and agendas.

PIA accredits undergraduate and postgraduate planning programs at Australian universities to provide professional recognition and to provide for Membership of the Institute through the Urban & Regional Planning Chapter. The PIA Education Policy, which sets the requirements and process for accreditation of tertiary qualifications in planning, was last reviewed in 2002.

In recent years, there have been significant changes in the planning profession and workplaces, within the Institute, and across education and planning education. PIA acknowledges that its accreditation and university liaison model has not been reviewed for some time and is probably out of step with leading practice and the needs of the profession, and educators as well as the Institute and its members. The context of the current review of PIA education policy includes:

• The recognition of specialised planning disciplines (mirrored in the development of Chapters in PIA) outside of the traditional urban and regional planning with the implication that specialist types of planning skill sets have emerged and will be required by the planning industry.
• Recognition that universities are not the only providers of planning education, and need to identify roles of diverse providers in skilling people to take part in planning (including growth of vocational programs for planning assistants).
• The move by PIA to the formal certification of planners as Certified Practicing Planners and a much greater focus by PIA on professional development (PD).
• The accreditation of courses and the need to ensure that content is relevant to the profession, the needs of employers and the practice of planning. 
• The rapid growth in the number of universities seeking accreditation or interim accreditation for new courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. 
• The findings and recommendations of PIA’s 2004 National Inquiry into Planning Education & Employment in respect to planning education.
• The widening role of planning including the observation that an undergraduate planning program cannot be ‘all things to all people’.  
• Moves by some universities in Australia to follow overseas degree models (especially the ‘Bologna model’ with generic undergraduate degrees and professional or specialised postgraduate degrees).
• Increasing pressure for planning programs (especially undergraduate) to impart generic skills and to deliver an all-round education in theoretical and practical aspects of planning.
• Changes in the mix of undergraduate and postgraduate planning programs across Australia.
• The pressure on planning programs to consider and include a range of subjects and disciplines such as GIS, environmental management, urban design, project management, work practice - the sheer difficulty of producing a graduate who is across every aspect of the widening discipline of planning
• Increasing numbers of international students in Australian planning programs, many of whom seek permanent residency on completion of their studies.
• Changed resourcing of universities, impacts on planning programs and the growing need to supplement or replace diminishing Commonwealth funding.
• The need to have regard to the circumstances in university planning schools.
• Views of employers (and need to address an increasingly diverse set of employers, as planning diversifies.

For more information about PIA’s education agendas, or about Foundations for the Future, please contact the National Education & Membership Manager or telephone (02) 6262 5933.