AESOP newsletter - December 2025

Looking ahead to 2026: key events and open calls

As the year comes to a close, the Association of European Schools of Planning would like to extend its warmest wishes to all our members, partners and colleagues.
We thank you for your continued engagement, collaboration and commitment to advancing planning education, research and practice across Europe and beyond.

While wishing you a restful holiday period, we would also like to take this...

We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 20th AESOP Heads of Schools Meeting, taking place from 11 to 14 March 2026 at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in Ås, Norway.

This milestone edition will bring together heads of planning schools, academics, researchers, and practitioners to reflect on the future of planning education and research in an era...

AESOP is pleased to announce the launch of the official website for the 2026 PhD Workshop, an annual event dedicated to doctoral researchers in spatial planning, urban and regional studies.

The 2026 edition will be held from 22 to 25 September 2026 at the historic Drosendorf Castle in Austria, a picturesque venue in the Waldviertel region northwest of Vienna. The workshop, themed “Spatial planning at...

1. Introduction

The Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) invites applications for the position of Secretary General for the term 2027–2031.

According to the AESOP Charter, “Representing the Association and managing its current affairs (...) shall be delegated to the President and the Secretary General.”

The current mandate of the Secretary General runs from August 2023 to July 2027. In accordance with the Charter,...

1. Introduction

The Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) invites applications for the position of Chair of the AESOP Excellence in Education Board (EEB) for the term 2026–2029.
The Chair oversees the Excellence in Education Board, coordinates the Quality Recognition Programme, and ensures the quality and transparency of assessment processes for awarding the AESOP Certificate of Quality.

2....

The AESOP Excellence in Education Board is inviting AESOP school members to apply for AESOP's Quality Recognition Programme.

If your planning programme has been fully delivered and you are looking for:

• opportunities to engage in critical dialogue with us concerning the programme's curriculum...

The call for hosting the 2028 AESOP Congress is now open. All Full and Associate AESOP Member institutions are warmly encouraged to apply.

The deadline for the submission of the bids is February 27th, 2026. 

The decision will be made by the Council of Representatives at the meeting in As (Norway) on March 12th, 2026. The candidates will be kindly asked to prepare a 10-minute presentation for the Council of Representatives.

The...

1. Introduction

The Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) invites applications for the position of Chair of the AESOP Excellence in Education Board (EEB) for the term 2026–2029.
The Chair oversees the Excellence in Education Board, coordinates the Quality Recognition Programme, and ensures the quality and transparency of assessment processes for awarding the AESOP Certificate of Quality.

2....

AESOP is looking for candidates willing to organise the AESOP Lecture Series in 2026. 

The application has to be from an Academic on behalf of an AESOP member institution.

The Lecture Series was initiated in 2012 as part of AESOP’s Silver Jubilee Year celebrations. Since then, a series of Lectures has been regularly organised with prominent ‘urban thinkers’, both academics and practitioners. The idea has been to attract not only the local...

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Host the 21st AESOP Young Academics Conference in March 2027!

The Association of European Schools of Planning Young Academics (AESOP YA) Network is thrilled to announce the Call for Proposals to host the 21st AESOP YA Conference, set to take place in March 2027. This is your chance to bring an exciting and impactful event to your institution and join a tradition of fostering international collaboration, knowledge exchange, and academic...

AESOP Lecture Series – Landscapes of Elsewhere: On Borders, Practices and Approaches

On 20 November 2025, the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies at Politecnico di Milano hosted the AESOP Lecture Landscapes of Elsewhere: On Borders, Practices and Approaches. The event, held in hybrid format at Craft (Campus Leonardo, Milan), brought together researchers working on territorial transformations in contested border regions. The session explored how...

 AESOP is pleased to announce the release of a new video-podcast developed in connection with a recently published special issue of Transactions of the Association of European Schools of Planning.

The video features a 30-minute recorded conversation between Transactions editors Oleksandr Anisimov and Dominic Stead, together with Marco Cremaschi,...

The Interplay Between Health, Housing, Planning: A New challenge ?

Guest editors:

• Yaneira Wilson, Centre de Recherche sur l’Habitat LAVUE, ENSAPVS, yaneira.wilson@paris-valdeseine.archi.fr
• Yankel Fijalkow, Centre de Recherche sur l’Habitat LAVUE, ENSAPVS yankel.fijalkow@paris-valdeseine.archi.fr

Description

The intricate connection between health and housing has been extensively...

 

Spotlight Finland: Contemporary challenges in planning practice and urban development

Guest editors:

Eva Purkarthofer, Aalto University, eva.purkarthofer@aalto.fi

Raine Mäntysalo, Aalto University, raine.mantysalo@aalto.fi

Description: Motivated by the 6th World Planning Schools Congress taking place from 29.6. to 3.7.2026 in Espoo and Helsinki, this special...

 

08/12/2025

By Christian Lamker (Groningen), Nils Björling (Gothenburg), Joanna Gregorowicz-Kipszak (Gothenburg)

 The Dynamics of Panarchy: Sensing, Planning and Designing grounded local-regional transformations

23rd meeting of AESOP Thematic Group on Planning and Complexity

Non-hierarchical and mutual interaction, self-organization between actors, as well as structures and scales of transformation that...

In cooperation with the Regional Studies Association (RSA) the ARL - Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association invites applications for the ARL International Summer School 2026, on “New perspectives on Urban Infrastructures.” The Summer School will take place from 8 to 10 July 2026 at the University of Amsterdam.

Urban and regional studies have...

Dear Colleagues

On behalf of a group of international housing, planning, and urban studies scholars, I would like to draw your attention to a new statement explicitly condemning the domicide in Gaza. The statement stresses the scale of the destruction of homes and related vital social infrastructure. In the context of the continued violence and the need for vital reconstruction and support, it observes the scale of destruction of homes and expresses personal commitments...

Special Issue Call for Papers

Urban Living Labs and New Epistemologies of Urban Design

in Urban Design International

https://link.springer.com/collections/fehceejgfa

Thematic framework

The Urban Living Labs (ULLs) indicate a deeper reconfiguration of how urban space is imagined and co-produced. Design practice is asked to create solutions for complex socio-spatial challenges, including climate change, structural transitions,...

Special Issue Call for Papers

Walking with Hope: Public Spaces for Wellbeing

We invite academics, practitioners, artists and all other interested contributors to submit full-length papers for a Special Issue of the international scholarly journal Urbani izziv / Urban Challenge (https://urbaniizziv.uirs.si/about). The Special Issue explores the vital relationship between the built environment, public spaces and human wellbeing through the interconnected...

Dear colleagues,

From the scientific journal Ciudades (ISSN-E 2445-3943; ISSN 1133-6579), founded in 1993 and edited by the Instituto Universitario de Urbanística of the University of Valladolid (Spain), we are pleased to inform about the

Call for papers "Historic centres: still a relevant issue?" by the scientific journal Ciudades nº 30, 2027 (edited by Instituto Universitario de Urbanística)

coordinated by 

Beatriz...

LINK TO THE DEDICATED WEBSITE : https://rencontres2026.sciencesconf.org/

The Perspectives Rurales scientific and pedagogical network meetings aim to bring together a wide range of participants: researchers from various disciplines, as well as local territorial actors and members of civil society. The event will be organized into several thematic sessions. This call for contributions is open to individuals, institutions, associations,...