Foreword: A bright future for plaNext and the AESOP publishing platform

Abstract

This foreword reflects on the significance of plaNext – Next Generation Planning achieving Scopus indexing in early 2025, situating this milestone within AESOP’s broader publishing ecosystem. The author reviews plaNext’s foundational mission to support early-career scholars, its evolution into a platform for innovative and inclusive planning scholarship, and its growing role in international dissemination. The text places plaNext alongside AESOP’s other publication channels—Transactions of AESOP, the Conversations in Planning Theory and Practice booklet series, and the AESOP Digital Archive—emphasising their complementarity and collective contribution to a plural, open, and value-driven knowledge infrastructure. It concludes by outlining a future vision for an integrated AESOP publishing platform rooted in openness, scholarly excellence, intergenerational collaboration, and a systemic approach to knowledge production and dissemination.