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 of global uncertainty.
Theme & Focus
“Planning Resilient Communities in Uncertain Times…
The call for hosting the 2028 AESOP Congress is now open. All Full and Associate AESOP Member institutions are warmly encouraged to apply.
New deadline for the submission of the bids is March 6th, 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 selected host will be asked to present the concept of…
Teaching and capacity development in the field of spatial planning is one of the main activities of AESOP Member Schools. Thus, in 2002, AESOP introduced a prize (https://aesop-planning.eu/activities/awards/excellence-in-teaching-award ) to recognize and encourage Excellence in Teaching.
Through this award, AESOP celebrates and disseminates innovative practices in teaching in its Member Schools. The broad aim of the Prize is to stimulate the development of…
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, elections for the next Secretary General will…
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping spatial planning research, education, and practice worldwide — offering new opportunities but also raising important questions about skills, ethics, and academic approaches.
To explore how European planning schools are responding to these developments, the newly established AESOP Task Force on AI in Planning has launched an online survey among AESOP member institutions.
The aim is to map current experiences with AI integration across…
Over the past decade, plaNext – Planning for the Next Generation has grown into a platform for innovative, interdisciplinary, and future-oriented research in spatial planning and regional development. This special issue is both a celebration and a reflection, capturing the transitions that have shaped the field — and the journal — from 2015 to 2025.
The plaNext was born in 2015 to create a dedicated platform for emerging scholars and new voices in spatial planning. Ten years…
TU Berlin, 30 September / 2 October 2025 DFG reference GZ: GU 1042/6-1
The conference The AESOP Planning/Conflict thematic group conference titled Contested urban policy: breeding concrete utopias was held in Berlin between 30 September and 2 October 2025 at the Institute of Urban and Regional Planning, Building A. Information on the call and on the program is attached and is also available online at: https://www.tu.berlin/en/planningtheory/research-publications
The XII international Conference of the Sustainable Food Planning TG will be hosted by the University Iuav of Venice on October 21-24, 2026. The Conference "Strengthening the values of food in times and spaces of fragility" invites scholars, practitioners, activists, and policymakers to explore how food values are mobilised, negotiated, and transformed across spaces and scales of fragility. The call for papers will be launched in early February. Stay tuned!
The Faculty of Architecture, Silesian University of Technology and the Architecture and Urban Planning Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences/ Katowice Branch, invite you to the international archiDREAM Silesia Multi-Conference, which will be held on 17–18 April 2026 in Gliwice, Poland.
As part of the event, we are planning seven parallel conferences:
We are glad to annunce that the 10th ISUF-H International Congress (International Seminar on Urban Form – Hispanic) has opened its call for abstract from 12 January to 27 February 2026. This international conference will take place in Valladolid (Spain) from 30 September to 3 October 2026, and is organised by the University Institute of Urban Planning (Instituto Universitario de Urbanística, IUU) of the University of Valladolid. The conference, titled 'Interdisciplinary…
In a world undergoing profound transformation through cascading crises, space continues to be contested yet critical to shaping just and sustainable futures. The Advanced Master of Human Settlements (MaHS) invites passionate and inquisitive spatial thinkers, researchers, and designers to join a rigorous one-year journey exploring the challenges and opportunities of our rapidly urbanising planet.
This intensive 60-credit, two-semester postgraduate program, offered…
The Programme, is taught in English, and is shared by the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Architecture, both from the University of Porto.
It aims to provide students with a theoretical and practical experience for a deeper professional practice, beyond international borders, providing a variety of topics in the areas of planning, management and urban policy in medium and large agglomerations. Without losing its urban context, the main themes offered by the…
Martina Schorn, Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research
Lena Greinke, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover, Institute of Environmental Planning
Shrinking areas are increasingly becoming the focus of spatial planning in Europe. Numerous studies have already examined the development of these areas. Currently, shrinkage is often equated with rural and peripheral areas. However, a…
The conference “Circular Design for Urban Transformation”, organised within the framework of the European project CID Innovation Alliance, will take place on 28–30 May 2026 at the Leibniz University of Hannover. The deadline for abstract submission is 15 March 2026
The conference addresses circularity as a key paradigm for contemporary urban and regional transformation, with a strong focus on spatial planning, governance arrangements, urban regeneration processes, social…
2026 ARL Congress | Cologne (“Maternushaus”) | 01 - 02 October 2026
Call for Abstracts
EUROPEAN REGIONAL POLICY IN TIMES OF TRANSITION
The ARL – Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association invites scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to submit abstracts for the upcoming ARL Congress 2026 on “European Regional Policy in Times of Transition”.
European regions are facing overlapping crises, ranging from economic and demo-graphic shifts to environmental and…
Exploring Local Social Cohesion in Green and Just Transitions, 7-8 October, 2026
Location: Leibniz University Hannover, Germany
The Hannover Section of the Research Institute Social Cohesion (www.fgz-risc.de/en) invites you to participate in the conference “Exploring Local Social Cohesion in Green and Just Transitions”. The conference aims to advance interdisciplinary discussion on the links between social cohesion – understood as trust…
The Instituto Universitario de Urbanística (University Institute of Urban Planning) has launched a call for chapters for a collective volume entitled “The deployment of the Spanish Urban (and Rural) Agenda: perspectives and challenges towards 2030,” which will be published as part of the new DOSSIER Ciudades series. This call, coordinated by Federico Camerin, aims to report on the progress, challenges, and critical elements of the implementation of the Spanish Urban (and…
