Professional Development Program
Leading Change in Cities: Skills for Planners
The Planning Program at the University of Toronto is pleased to announce the launch of a new professional development program, ‘Leading Change in Cities: Skills for Planners’. The program is geared to practicing planners seeking to upgrade or develop skills in specialized fields of planning, while also developing the skills in leadership and management necessary to make change happen.
The University of Toronto is partnering with the Ontario Professional Planners Institute in this initiative. In this inaugural year, the program will offer courses around the themes of ‘healthy community, sustainable community’, in keeping with OPPI’s current policy initiative .
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Current Program Schedule
Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time. The changes required in professional practice, and the interesting issues faced by urban leaders, are unparalleled. Though cities are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, they are also uniquely positioned to take leadership in both mitigation and adaptation. Our changing climate will transform how planning practitioners relate to their work. This two-day course is intended to help planners who are developing and managing programs with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing the impacts of climate change. The role of green development in the economy recovery will be highlighted. In addition to presentations that offer up-to-date information and analysis, the course includes many opportunities for the discussion and hands-on exercises. Guest speakers with experience in developing and leading climate change mitigation and adaptation programs will make presentation in the course. A binder of useful background materials will also be made available to course participants. Detailed Draft Agenda:
For course description, see Climate Change and Green Planning Cities around the world are facing the same
challenges; how to remain competitive in a rapidly changing economic
environment, how to provide the best quality of life for their citizens and how
to respond to climate change. The best cities have developed flexible and
responsive city building strategies through transformational regeneration of
their downtowns and waterfronts, radical reworking of deprived areas, bold
mobility strategies, integrated ecological initiatives and the promotion of
cultural renaissance. The course will be structured around
practical experience in case studies drawn from cities which have demonstrated
innovation and creativity in these many dimensions of city building. Cities to
be considered will include: Dublin, Liverpool, London, Malmo, Manchester, New
York, Paris, Singapore, Stockholm, and smaller centres such Youngstown , Ohio,
and Sheffield and Burnley UK. This
one-day course is designed for senior professionals in the field of planning
and engineering who wish to compete successfully against the world’s brightest
and best consultants on the international stage. It will be taught by two
world-renowned leaders of two international planning consulting firms. This course will assist firms and individuals assess their competitive advantage, choose markets on which to focus, develop entry strategies, promote their expertise and win international contracts. The workshop will provide participants with a broad
overview of sustainability issues as they related to planning and
development. It will then focus on the current state of the industry in
terms of existing certifications and programs developed to help create
and celebrate sustainable urban planning. The second day will focus on
practical information to consider in developing a sustainability plan,
first with a discussion of lessons learned from the various presenters
and then with an overview of necessary (next) steps for successful
implementation. Topics to be covered include: climate change, waste,
transportation, material (local and sustainable), food, water natural
habitat/wildlife, culture/heritage, equity and health/happiness. Also
to be explained are both the LEED for Neighborhood Developments and One
Planet Living certifications for developments of this scale and scope. Presentations of local and international case studies will be done to illustrate principles, solutions and certifications. The session will inform attendees about how climate change scenario information can be displayed, downloaded, validated and interpreted using the tools of the CCCSN. Instructional material will be provided at the session. The two-day session includes hands-on training on:
Title
Date
Location
Summary
Climate Change and Green Planning
by Eva Ligeti, Clean Air PartnershipTBA
TBA
For registration click icon
Strategies for City Building-the Best of Global Practice
by Joe Berridge, Urban strategies Inc.TBA
TBA
For registration click icon
Winning in International Markets: Successful Strategies for Planning and Engineering Consultants
by Joe Berridge, Urban Strategies Inc. and
John Farrow, LEA Group Holdings Inc.
TBA
TBA
For registration click icon
Urban Design and Planning for Green Development
by Chris Hardwicke, Matt Humphries and Regan SmithTBA
TBA
For registration click icon
Modeling Impacts of Climate Change on Cities
by Neil Comer, Adam Fenech, and William Gough,TBA
Rm 2098 and Room 620, Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George St., Toronto ON M5S 3G3
This two-day session will provide hands-on training in the use of Canadian Climate Change Scenarios Network (CCCSN.CA) website. The website can be accessed by planners and other seeking to develop climate change scenarios for their jurisdictions. Participants will learn how to access and interpret both observed and model data available on the CCCSN site. Instruction will be geared to novices and will involve both demonstration and interactive participation on University of Toronto networked computers.
- How to search for, identify and download freely available climate data for your local area of interest.
- How to organize and manage downloaded climate data for analysis and interpretation using indices of climate change.
- What global climate model output is available on the CCCSN website (www.cccsn.ca), and how to navigate and use the website
- How to use global climate models that have 'realistic' projections of future climate change.
- How to select which of the global climate models used in the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th Assessment Report and their
various scenarios of future climate change could be used for climate change impact studies in your area.
- How to conduct climate model verification against historical observations of climate to "verify" which global climate model(s) might provide the best
representation of future projections for your local area of interest.
For more information and registration, click icon.
Further offerings may become available in conjunction with the John Bousfield Distinguished Visitor in Planning Program, which brings accomplished practitioners and scholars to the university each year through an international competition.
