Further information on the resource needs of students and teachers can be found in the RTPI’s Manual for Schools.

This section provides a summary of the roles planners can and do take with their local schools and youth groups, showing the great variety of activities that you can get involved with. Many of these roles are exemplified in the online case studies. Some are inevitably more time consuming than others, but many of these projects can be hugely rewarding and satisfying, as well as being great fun too! It should be an integral part of your job, and not viewed as an ‘add-on’. Young people of all ages and abilities will usually be lively and opinionated and give you a whole new perspective on a scheme or issue.

Many of the topics, issues and subjects within teaching and youth work are also familiar planning issues. Planners can provide a wide range of resources for teachers and youth workers who can adapt and use them in the manner considered most appropriate to meet their own and their different students’ needs.

Of interest will be strategic topics such a regeneration and transport, and local topics such as specific site development, changes of use, community safety and designing out crime.

Teachers may require information in depth so that a fuller understanding of issues can be appreciated, even if they are distilled and adapted by teachers for use by students. This is seen as a distinct advantage by some teachers and enables older students to examine issues in greater detail and appreciate different opinions and values which influence decision making and conflict resolution. This in turn is a valuable mechanism for students to develop their own opinions and values, an integral part of education.

Some of the methodologies used by teachers are:

• Investigation and appreciation of political, economic, social and environmental factors which affect issues and recognise the interdependence of people, places and environments over different time scales.
• Analysis of written visual and statistical evidence, enabling students to develop their own views about contemporary issues, drawing on a wide range of resources including maps, plans, photos and statistics, gathering views and factual evidence about local issues.
• Collecting, recording and presenting evidence and communicating in a variety of ways suitable for the audience.
• Field study techniques, such as town-trails, site visits, questionnaires, land use surveys, use of secondary evidence, use of maps and preparation of sketch plans.

You already have lots of information that schools will find useful. You just need to let them know what’s there and help them to use it effectively!

Provide information and project support

• Your Council’s website may be a valuable resource for schools. Other resources such as local maps, historic photographs, census or tourist information may be available.
• A resources directory with web links may be useful, but must be kept up to date, and on the web for ease of access. It will enable teachers to know what is available, such as maps, statistics, consultation documents, newspaper cuttings etc. Develop this with your local teachers so they can tell you what is most useful to them and in what format. Link up with subject support teachers in various subjects. Most Local Education Authorities (or equivalents) have subject advisers who are a good first point of contact to discuss what local resources may be of value to schools and whether any particular recent planning issues or controversial decisions might make good case studies. The Geographical Association (www.geography.org.uk) and other subject associations may be helpful.
• Consider developing new material for specific projects, perhaps working with local RTPI Regions and Environmental Education Officers.
• Consider holding a day workshop or event for a number of schools in the area.
• You could also develop a walking tour audio tape of key features in an area, with a supporting map pointing out key buildings and places of interest, with descriptions and notes about how development has been influenced. This could be developed as a project with young people taking the lead and doing the recordings too, ensuring that the information is of interest to the relevant age group.

Target children and young people for meaningful consultation and involvement

• Make a point of involving young people in live consultations about site developments. Local authority developments such as new schools or leisure centres, park refurbishment and town centre enhancements are examples where young people are directly affected as users of the facility.
• Involving young people in policy issues can be more challenging. Encouraging consideration of their lives in 10 years time can help to make topics like housing and jobs more relevant.
• Involve young people in policy issues and for the Local Development Framework or Local Development Plan. Education for Sustainable Development is not a “one off” but is integral to planning and achieving the wider objectives of planning. The importance of a better involved and informed local community of all ages is recognised in guidance documents in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.Developing joint projects with the RTPI’s Planning Aid Service (www.planningaid.rtpi.org.uk). If you have additional funding they may be able to put in the expertise you need to run some larger projects and consultation/involvement exercises.
• Remember to liaise with the Youth Service, as well as teachers, as they have a lot of good practice material available. Consultation and involvement projects run with youth workers can tap into another group of young people who may not be engaged through school.
• Safe Routes to School projects (www.saferoutestoschool.org.uk) can also be a good way to introduce wider planning issues. It is useful to be aware if/where these are operating in your area. There will already be a teacher contact that could be a useful link for you.
• Other professionals within the Local Authority may be working with schools already. They may be able to assist you on relevant projects or provide useful contacts. Examples could include pedestrian and cycle safety, waste recycling, libraries and Local Agenda 21.
• If you have a local youth forum or assembly this is a useful way to obtain comments on proposals, and may or may not offer the opportunity for more in depth consultation and involvement, depending on how they are set up and managed.
• Help young people to understand the importance of their opinions in their own right NOW as young people.

Promote planning as a career

• Careers workshops - dull “careers talks” are a thing of the past, so you will want to make your session active, participatory and engaging. Avoid ‘talks’ if at all possible, and engage them in discussing local places / issues.
• Show them why you love it! Explain what makes your day. You will no doubt have anecdotes about disastrous site visits/events that will make them laugh and your talk memorable.
• Young people often ask questions about the mundane stuff like when you have to get up in the morning and what you earn. Be ready with information about starting salaries and progressive scales etc

Support work related learning in schools

• Provide work placements and/or work shadowing opportunities (2 weeks in the summer term usually, for Year 10 or Year 11) or paid work in summer break for 6th formers e.g. survey work.
• Broker links with the developers and contractors on major sites. Offer site visits to the major sites, with support material and on site discussion.
• Support role play projects, mock inquiries etc. If you are into amateur dramatics and/or ever wanted to be the Planning Inspector now is your chance!
• Join business ambassador/mentor schemes if they are operating in your authority. This gives you the opportunity to support schools, not necessarily in the role of a planner! You can provide assistance as a supportive adult and can link informally to work related learning in secondary schools.

Local democracy

• Facilitate visits to the council chamber, to committee/executive meetings where young people can make representations on key issues and contribute to the debate (and co-chair the meeting).
• Suggest to schools that they invite their local councillors, as well as officers, to present their project findings to, and to join in the discussion
• Facilitate “shadowing councillors” perhaps during local democracy week each year. “Be a councillor for a day” schemes have operated in a number of local authorities. Some schools also operate school councils.

Risk assessment

• For all projects remember to work with the teacher on risk assessments. You may wish to get a CRB enhanced disclosure yourself, as this is helpful for the schools.

We hope this has given you some ideas and whetted your appetite. Take a look at the Case Studies for more information.

Author:

Jacqui Ward

Publisher:

The Royal Town Planning Institute

Date:

11-Jun-07

This article has been read 1892 times.