Jan is RTPI President, a Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute (FRTPI).  Jan Chair’s the Global Planners Network and has been recognised as one of ‘the most influential women in UK planning’. She is immediate past Board Chair of the National Infrastructure Planning Association and is a member of the Building with Nature Expert Advisory Panel.

Jan is also a Strategic Planning Adviser at Pinsent Masons law firm and has significant experience of examining (former Examining Inspector at the Planning Inspectorate) and advising on a wide range of nationally significant infrastructure and major development projects across the full range of organisations and sectors including new settlements and urban regenerative extensions, energy, water and waste water, transport, business and commercial, ports and airports dealing with a wide range of issues from development consent orders, strategic plans, EIA, biodiversity, design, Water Framework Regulations, Habitats Regulations Assessment, community engagement and compulsory purchase.

Samer was a Trustee of the RTPI for three years, prior to being elected as Vice President for 2025.

Professor Samer Bagaeen’s breadth of experience lies across local government, academia, and urban planning. He is a Technical Director with the Environmental Planning team at Arcadis, a Professor of Planning & Resilient Systems at the University of Kent, and a Councillor since 2019.

Samer is a Chartered Town Planner, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a Design Council Expert, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is a Non-Exec Board Member for the South East at Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors. He is Vice-Chair of the RTPI’s International Committee. Samer sits on the Kent Housing and Development Group and advises the Kent Chief Planners Group.

He is a founder member of Hydrogen Sussex and sits on the Advisory Board of the BAME Planners Network.

He previously worked with the Rockefeller Foundation’s global resilience programme as an Associate Director. In Kent, Samer currently manages Cultural Co-location, a Creative Estuary project funded by the Cultural Development Fund and his team has developed a planning for culture toolkit.

Samer served on the Policy Council at the Town and Country Planning Association from 2010-2020 where he also served as a Trustee for five years. He also worked for the RICS as an officer looking after thought leadership relationships. Samer is a regular speaker at conferences and events.