Professor John Sturzaker FRTPI is Director of Careers, Education & Planning Aid England

RTPI members play an essential role in helping to deliver the Institute’s aims. Since I joined the RTPI as Director of Education, Careers and Planning Aid England six months ago, I’ve been really impressed by the breadth of activities our members engage in as volunteers. In this blog I want to highlight some of the opportunities for volunteering, and how impactful that volunteering can be – for the profession, for communities, and for volunteers themselves.

RTPI Ambassadors

Ambassadors are RTPI members who raise awareness of town planning amongst young people, whether by talking to primary or secondary school pupils, attending careers fairs, or even being part of the BBC Bitesize Careers Tour! This activity is important both in promoting planning as a career option and in the wider awareness-raising role it plays – young people will go home and talk to their families about what they have learned, helping to address some of the myths about planning which we know are out there.

Ambassador activity works best when it is connected to the place where it takes place and can make use of local connections and case studies, for example the RTPI South West Education and Careers working group, who recently organised a webinar on becoming an Ambassador. So most of our Ambassador activity is led by the Regions and Nations – if you’re interested in getting involved, click here to find your local contact.

Planning Aid England

Planning Aid activities are delivered by different organisations across the UK, although we work together through the Planning Aid National Network (PANN). Planning Aid England is part of the RTPI, and works to help people, particularly those from deprived communities, get involved in planning. Through this activity we directly contribute to the objects of our Royal Charter, to “advance the science and art of planning for the benefit of the public”.

There are various opportunities to volunteer with Planning Aid England, including delivering casework and email advice, helping communities engage with consultations on Local Plans and major development schemes, and supporting neighbourhood planning.

The Partnership and Accreditation Panel

The RTPI accredits 34 planning schools around the world, which are the main route to RTPI membership for most people. The process for universities to gain and maintain RTPI accreditation includes a rigorous initial assessment, and annual partnership boards for each planning school. Volunteers play important roles in this activity, as explained in this blog by the Chair of our Partnership and Accreditation Panel (PAP), Hannah Hickman.

We are regularly contacted by universities wishing to explore accreditation, and whenever we enter the formal “dialogue” process with such a university, we need volunteers from academic and other sectors to help with this. If you would like to find out more about PAP, please click here.

Birmingham and the West Midlands

We are working with RTPI West Midlands and other partners to support and empower communities in the area to become more involved in planning. This has included testing our new Ambassadors resources at a school in Birmingham and a developing role in working with communities affected by large scale regeneration proposals in the city. If you live or work in the West Midlands and would like to find out more about these opportunities, please contact volunteers@rtpi.org.uk.

Volunteering – for planning, for the public, and for you!

In this article I’ve highlighted just some of the ways in which RTPI members are giving up their time to help promote the profession, introduce it to young people, support our education activity and work with communities.

It's also worth remembering that as RTPI members, we are obliged by the Code of Conduct to undertake and record at least 50 hours of CPD in each two year period – and you can log that CPD through the RTPI website, so you can easily keep track of it. Volunteering with the RTPI is a great way to undertake CPD, so you are helping yourself as well as others.

Please do get in touch if you’d like to hear more about any of the ways to volunteer I’ve mentioned.