Improving Planning Education in Europe: TNP meeting in Oxford, 22–27 October 1999

Abstract

This report documents the activities of the Socrates–Erasmus Thematic Network Project (TNP) Improving Planning Education in Europe during its first and second years, culminating in the Oxford meeting (22–27 October 1999). The initiative brought together around 45 higher education planning institutions from 17 countries, structured into three working groups: (1) Research Programmes, (2) PhD Research, and (3) the Relationship between Planning Profession and Education. Activities included surveys on doctoral studies, the role of planning in European integration, and practitioner evaluations of planning education. Key outcomes include strengthened academic and professional networks, reports on national planning research systems, and guidelines for teaching applied planning practices. The project highlighted both the richness and fragmentation of planning education across Europe, stressing the need to clarify the role of the planning profession and to enhance the integration of applied teaching methods. Planned third-year activities focus on dissemination, international PhD and teaching seminars, and further development of a permanent European network for planning education.