Membership

2012 membership highlights

The RTPI is committed to working for and supporting our members. Click on the items below to see how much we have achieved for you:

Career support
Events
Membership
Education and CPD
Research
RTPI Nations and RTPI International
Planning Aid England

Career support

We have provided an increasing number of members with individually-tailored advice on a range of workplace, career and professional queries this year. The RTPI offers a free Employment Law Helpline, which offers independent advice on a wide range of workplace issues. We also ran a number of career support workshops, giving delegates access to recruiters, employers and the benefit of one-to-one advice.

Events

We have provided even more opportunities for members to network, learn and develop this year, with more than one RTPI event every day of the year. We continue to offer excellent value, with almost half of all places free to members and three quarters of all places costing under £100. RTPI events took place across the UK, internationally and online.

Membership

We have made the APC process faster, cheaper and more certain for candidates this year, as well as providing additional training for assessors. We have introduced Affiliate membership, updated the criteria for Technical membership, are reviewing the process of electing Fellows, and will introduce a leave of absence for members taking career breaks.

Education and CPD

We now have 32 accredited planning schools and provisionally accredited planning schools, and staff have attended Partnership Boards at 24 universities this year. The RTPi has delivered talks on membership at 28 planning schools and provided individual advice and support to members about CPD, as well as carrying out monitoring. Two new RTPI Learning Partners have joined the scheme this year.

Research

This year we have carried out a thorough review of our Research function, while delivering regular bulletins to members of PERN (Planning Education Research Network) and ESPON (European Spatial Planning Observation Network). ESPON has held events for around 300 delegates, as well as organising the RTPI Nathaniel Lichfield Annual Lecture, and we continue to support the Planning Theory and Practice journal.

RTPI Nations and RTPI International

We have run successful, high-profile events in Wales, Scotland and internationally, contributed to government thinking and brokered dialogue with employers to support members. We continue to serve the specific needs of planners in particular areas and support them in developing their skills, while promoting the role and importance of planning across the world.

Planning Aid England

Planning Aid England is a volunteer led service that provides free and independent planning advice to the general public and assists those who otherwise could not afford planning consultants. The service has undergone a number of changes in 2012 and now offers a planning advice line to all callers and supports neighbourhood planning frontrunners.