Volunteers are playing a pivotal role in accreditation and partnership

Hannah Hickman is an Associate Professor in Planning Practice at the University of the West of England.

Quality initial planning education is an essential component in the development of successful planners who are both competent to tackle current and future planning challenges and confident to effect change. The RTPI’s approach to accreditation focusses on championing excellence in planning education through rigorous quality assurance procedures with new and existing accredited Planning Schools alongside providing constructive advice and ongoing support for its accredited partners.

Partnership and Accreditation Panel (PAP) member support is vital for the successful operation of our accreditation process and is integral to the activities of Partnership Boards.  As Accreditation and Partnership Board members, our PAP volunteers play a pivotal role in monitoring the accreditation and partnership processes; ensuring our accredited providers meet the RTPI’s quality standards, supporting them to deliver high-quality planning education and maintain their ’effective’ Planning School status.

Currently we accredit 34 Planning Schools in the UK and overseas and our work in maintaining these partnerships is assisted by around 50 PAP members from across planning practice and academia. However, as our accreditation service expands, so too does our need for member volunteers.

For Associate, Chartered or retired members with an interest in or knowledge of planning education and / or RTPI education policy, this could be the volunteering opportunity for you! It could also count towards meeting your CPD requirements.

We asked Hannah Hickman, current Chair of PAP, to give us an insight into her experience as a PAP member volunteer. Hannah is Associate Professor of Planning Practice in the School of Architecture and Environment at the University of the West of England (UWE) with a distinguished career spanning public and private leadership as a planner.

Could you tell us why you became a member of PAP and what you enjoy about it?

I joined PAP around the same time that I moved from professional practice into academia. At that point, I was particularly interested in whether my combined perspective – coming from practice but now within higher education - might offer something useful to the partnership process. I hope that has proved to be the case!

What I have come to value most is the opportunity to engage with a wide range of Planning Schools and colleagues, and to contribute - however modestly - to strengthening the relationship between education and practice. I believe that it is a genuinely collaborative space and one that should encourage reflection on how we best support future planners.

In a similar vein, could you tell us about your experience as a Partnership Board member?

I’ve now been a member of three Partnership Boards (Heriot-Watt University, Newcastle University and University of Cape Town), and this year I’m joining the University of Cambridge Partnership Board as Chair. One of the most rewarding aspects of this experience has been seeing how, while there is a common framework and process, each Planning School is distinct - facing its own challenges and opportunities.

These differences have been really interesting to navigate and have foregrounded the need for different partnership skills depending on context! Whilst the partnership process has its core elements, there does need to be some flexibility in application.

Against that backdrop, for me, the critical role of a Partnership Board is to strike the right balance between constructive scrutiny and genuine partnership - providing challenge where needed, but always in a way that supports and enables a Planning School.

You have recently been appointed to the role of PAP Chair - what are you looking forward to in this role?

I’m particularly looking forward to working with both the professional team at the RTPI and fellow PAP members to explore how the partnership process might continue to evolve.

More broadly, I’m interested in how we can best strengthen the “spirit of partnership” beyond the formal meeting cycle – encouraging ongoing dialogue that benefits Planning Schools and enables board members to contribute actively and keep up to date with developments.

Being a PAP member is a worthwhile volunteering opportunity- in your opinion,  what other member benefits does it offer?

Expanding your own networks is an obvious one, but it definitely goes beyond that. I think it provides me with a valuable opportunity for reflection. In all of the Planning Schools I have engaged with I have learnt about innovation in teaching methods and new ideas for content. One highlight for me is hearing about the many research projects that Planning Schools are leading at any one time, and the benefits this active research brings to student experience. I have always come away from a Partnership Board meeting with several items to add to my ever-growing list of things I intend to read!

It’s also nice to feel part of a wider community of planners and practitioners who are collectively supporting higher education.

As a planner whose career spans both academia and practice, what would you say to someone considering volunteering on PAP?

No surprises here - I would strongly encourage anyone with an interest to go for it. I think it’s an extremely interesting and rewarding experience.

I absolutely don’t think you need to be based in higher education to contribute effectively; in fact, I think Partnership Boards benefit enormously from having RTPI members from practice. One of the things Planning Schools must carefully navigate is the balance in the curriculum between skills for practice and wider critical thinking. Having the perspective from practitioners, who will be supporting planners in their early career phase and towards the APC, is really helpful in this balancing exercise.