About the Team

Head of Policy, Practice Research and International and responsible for Policy, Practice and Research Committee.

Visiting professor at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Healthy Urban Environments, University of the West of England. Interests: Research Methods (esp. text mining and social media analysis); public policy (esp. planning, health and education); European and International politics.

Interests: Transport (and Network); Strategic Planning; Regeneration; Infrastructure; Sustainability; Climate Change; Technology; Location of Development.

Tom leads on housing policy for RTPI, focusing mainly on how planning can contribute to housing affordability. He also manages the joint RTPI-CIH Planning for Housing Network which brings together housing and planning professionals. He manages and delivers research on a range of topics including local authority housebuilding, measuring planning outcomes, environmental planning after Brexit, resourcing public planning, and the size and makeup of the planning profession. Tom is also a Co-Investigator at the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE), working on the ‘Place’ theme which looks at housing and neighbourhood design, sustainability and place-making. This includes ongoing qualitative research exploring the how design is delivered in new housing developments across the UK. He has previously worked at the National Centre for Social Research and Shared Assets, a think-and-do tank focusing on common good land use.

Isabella is the RTPI’s Climate Change Research Officer. She holds an MSc degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and an MA degree in Geography from The University of Edinburgh. Isabella has previously worked for an environmental charity with a focus on urban food growing and private planning consultancies with a specialism in community and stakeholder engagement.

Sarah has been the Planning Practice Officer at the RTPI for a number of years. She is responsible for managing the RTPI’s Practice Advice series. She writes on a wide range of planning topics and is the author of many of the RTPI’s practice advice notes and online training modules through RTPI Learn. This includes the Dementia and Town Planning advice. Sarah has a long standing interest in health and equality in town planning.

Max leads on England policy for RTPI managing the Institute’s England Policy Panel and in collaboration with the panel and the broader membership, he prepares RTPI policy responses to UK Government consultations relating to England. He also manages the RTPI Urban Design Network, Large Consultancies Group and the Heads Of Planning Everywhere Network. His recent publications include a shared experiences webpage documenting the planning profession’s response to COVID-19, RTPI Practice Advice Note on Probity and the Professional Planner and research reports on planning and design quality and on the benefits of having a Chief Planning Officer. Previously he worked for the British Holiday & Home Parks Association.

Michele Vianello is the International Policy and Research Officer at the RTPI. He coordinates the Institute’s engagement with UN-Habitat. He focuses on how the UN SDGs translate into policy in the UK, and on how planning can contribute to key areas of global sustainable development. He holds a PhD in Planning from the IUAV University of Venice. He is currently coordinating the drafting of the RTPI International Strategy.

Jenny is the RTPI’s Policy and Networks Adviser. She is responsible for managing the RTPI’s Independent Consultants’ Network (ICN) and National Association of Planning Enforcement network (NAPE). She is a Master of Urban Planning graduate from the University of Melbourne in Victoria Australia, where she was the recipient of the Dean’s Honours Award and Ledgar Prize in Urban Planning. Jenny has previously worked as a planning consultant in Australia and has a particular interest in international knowledge and policy transfer.

Ollie is the RTPI’s Policy and Networks Adviser in London. He’s worked previously for research consultancies specialising in both social and market research. He currently oversees the Transport Planning Network and supports our work on Climate Change