Planning and Environmental Governance

Overview

The planning process involves a range of stakeholders, encompassing professional planners, politicians, developers, individual citizens and pressure groups. These come together in a highly politicised environment, through which planning decisions are made according to prescribed legal and policy rules. This network of interests and procedures contribute to the governance of planning, the understanding of which allows an appreciation of how planning manages environmental change and the different influences on this process. This module will explore these issues by reviewing the institutions, policies and legal framework of land use regulation, with a specific emphasis on Northern Ireland.

Learning Objectives

1. Explain and demonstrate how spatial planning operates within the context of institutional and legal frameworks. 2. Generate integrated and well substantiated responses to spatial planning challenges. 3. Reflect on the arguments for and against spatial planning and particular theoretical approaches and assess what can be learnt from experience of spatial planning in different contexts and spatial scales. 4. Explain the political and ethical nature of spatial planning and reflect on how planners work effectively within democratic decision making structures. 5. Debate the concept of rights and the legal and practical implications of representing these rights in planning decision making processes. 6. Explain the principles of equality and equality of opportunity in relation to spatial planning in order to positively promote the involvement of different communities, and evaluate the importance and effectiveness of community engagement in the planning process. 7. Demonstrate effective research, analytical, evaluative and appraisal skills and the ability to reach appropriate evidence based decisions. 8. Recognise the role of communication skills in the planning process and the importance of working in an inter-disciplinary context and be able to demonstrate negotiation, mediation, advocacy and leadership skills. 9. Distinguish the characteristics of a professional, including the importance of upholding the highest standards of ethical behaviour and a commitment to lifelong learning and critical reflection so as to maintain and develop professional competence.

Skills

Negotiation, oral presentation, policy analysis.

Assessment

Students must pass all assessment components.