AESOP newsletter - June & July 2026

On behalf of the AESOP Executive Committee and the entire Association, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Local Organising Committee of the World Planning Schools Congress 2026 for the outstanding work carried out in hosting this exceptional event.

The Congress represented an important opportunity for planning scholars, practitioners and students from across the world to meet, exchange ideas and strengthen international cooperation. Throughout the week, the…

AESOP is pleased to announce that Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus–Senftenberg, in collaboration with Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), has been selected to host the AESOP Heads of Schools Meeting 2027. The selection was formally approved during the AESOP Council of Representatives meeting held in Helsinki in July 2026.

The meeting will take place in March 2027, with activities hosted across both Cottbus and Berlin, offering participants the…

We are delighted to announce that the AESOP community continues to grow, welcoming new institutions and individuals committed to advancing planning education, research, and practice.

It is with great pleasure that we welcome all new members approved by the AESOP Council of Representatives in 2026, whose participation further strengthens our diverse and international network of planning schools, research institutions, and professionals.

Full Members

• Faculty of Planning and…

AESOP is pleased to announce that the Council of Representatives, during its meeting held in Helsinki in July 2026, officially approved three new AESOP Lecture Series for the coming academic year.

The AESOP Lecture Series continues to provide an international platform for leading scholars and practitioners to engage with some of the most pressing challenges facing planning research and practice. The 2026 programme reflects the breadth of contemporary planning debates…

This year, 18 articles were nominated by journal editors for the AESOP Best Published Paper Award. From these, AESOP’s Best Published Paper Committee shortlisted the following five articles:

• August, M., & St-Hilaire, C. (2025). Financialization, housing rents and affordability in Toronto. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 57(5), 517-535.https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X251328129
• Davy, B. (2025). Imperial and colonial amnesia of European planning academics – the…

The AESOP Excellence in Teaching Award celebrates outstanding achievements in planning education across the AESOP community. Once again this year, the ETA Committee received a number of excellent submissions showcasing innovative pedagogical approaches, inspiring learning environments and a strong commitment to preparing the next generation of planning professionals.

After a careful evaluation of all submissions, the Committee is delighted to announce that the 2026 AESOP…

AESOP is pleased to announce that Professor Karina Pallagst will assume the role of President of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) on 1 August 2026.

Karina was elected during the 2025 Heads of Schools Meeting in Liverpool. In accordance with AESOP's governance structure, she has served throughout the past year as Vice-President, working closely with the Executive Committee and the current President in preparation for assuming the leadership of the…

AESOP is pleased to announce that Kadri Leetmaa (University of Tartu, Estonia) has been elected Secretary General of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) for the 2027–2031 term.

Kadri Leetmaa will succeed Giancarlo Cotella (Politecnico di Torino) as AESOP Secretary General following the AESOP Annual Congress 2027.

The election took place during the Council of Representatives Meeting held in Helsinki during the 2026 AESOP Annual Congress.

Kadri Leetmaa will…

As the 2023–2026 mandate of the AESOP Excellence in Education Board (EEB) comes to a close, AESOP would like to express its sincere gratitude to Professor Tijana Dabović (University of Belgrade) for her dedicated leadership as Chair of the Board and for her outstanding contribution to strengthening excellence in planning education across the Association.

During her mandate, Tijana led the continued development of the AESOP Quality Recognition (QR) Programme, building on the…

AESOP is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the European Council of Spatial Planners – Conseil Européen des Urbanistes (ECTP-CEU) during the World Planning Schools Congress 2026, held in Helsinki.

The agreement was formally signed on 2 July 2026 by Maria Håkansson, President of AESOP, and Catherine Vilquin, President of ECTP-CEU, marking an important milestone in the long-standing relationship between the two organisations. 

The…

The collaboration between the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) continues to grow, reaffirming the shared commitment of both organisations to advancing planning education, research and international academic cooperation.

During the World Planning Schools Congress 2026 in Helsinki, representatives of AESOP and ACSP met on several occasions to exchange ideas, reflect on common challenges and identify…

We are delighted to announce the release of the Book of Proceedings of the 37th AESOP Annual Congress | PLANNING AS A TRANSFORMATIVE ACTION IN AN AGE OF PLANETARY CRISIS.

You can find it within the AESOP Digital Archive.

You can also access it on the AESOP Istanbul Congress website, along with the latest version of the Book of Abstracts and the Congress Program.

We once again thank the ISTANBUL LOC for their precious work!

The AESOP Young Academics (YA) Network is pleased to invite applications for Track Co-Chairs for the AESOP Annual Congress, which will take place 19–23 July 2027 at the University of Birmingham (UK).

Under the theme "From Grey to Green: Planning and the De-Carbonisation of the City," the Congress will bring together scholars and practitioners to discuss how planning can contribute to climate action, sustainable urban development, and just transitions towards low-carbon…

The AESOP Young Academics Network (YAN) invites all young academics to participate in a new survey exploring the educational role of the network and the experiences of its members.

We are interested in learning how YAN supports peer learning, collaboration, knowledge exchange, and professional development. Your experiences will help us better understand the value of young academic networks while informing the future development of YAN activities.

The survey takes approximately …

Just published! Planning for Possibilities through Critical Pragmatism: John Forester in Conversation with Giusy Pappalardo and Martin Westin is the 12th Booklet of the open‑access series, AESOP-YA Conversations in Planning Theory and Practice.

https://archive.aesop-planning.eu/items/23344cab-abbb-47cb-af88-0ba2f33dad14

Title:

Planning for possibilities through critical pragmatism.

John Forester in conversation with Giusy Pappalardo and Martin Westin

Abstract:

This booklet traces…

AESOP is pleased to announce the publication of Volume 10, Issue 1 (June 2026) of the Transactions of the Association of European Schools of Planning, the Association's international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal.

This new issue, entitled "Mega-Events as Urban Game Changers?", brings together a collection of original contributions exploring the complex relationships between mega-events, urban transformation and spatial planning. Building on discussions initiated during…

How should planners respond to the rapid spatial reorganisation of industry? An international online workshop hosted by AESOP IIT Delhi and UCL brought together emerging researchers and world-leading experts to explore the future of industrial planning, governance, sustainability and labour. 

From 7–9 July 2026, the AESOP’s Young Academics Network, the School of Public Policy at IIT Delhi, and The Bartlett School of…

We have just held our third webinar on "Rural Housing: Community-led Delivery and Community Energy".

You can view the webinar here: https://ucl.zoom.us/rec/share/7isAX41yP_F_e4XxXf2qrvx-AJ7jDffUvJF0BnUqDuhpg9cZG5_zAfhYsBOB1rMF.yOTzktP5XHgN4FxU

The event was organised under the auspices of the Rural Housing Innovation Network, a UK-based network focusing on the many critical challenges associated with the delivery of affordable rural housing.

The webinar explored the…

Here is the information on the upcoming conference in the series "Public Spaces, Urban Cultures, and Hope" 17-19 September at TU Wien.

Steering committee: Sabine Knierbein, Andrea Glauser, Lisa Gaupp und Sarah Chaker

The Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien) https://www.tuwien.at/.  and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna https://www.mdw.ac.at/.  are offering two combined conferences:  

Public Spaces, Urban Spaces and Hope (https://skuor.tuwien.ac.at/de/events…

The Spatial Life of Trauma: Public Space, Memory and Future-Making 

Edited by:

Dimitra Kanellopulou, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture Paris-Malaquais, PSL Université, Ambiances Architectures Urbanités Research Laboratory (UMR1563) - CRESSON Team, d.kanellopoulou@paris-malaquais.archi.fr

Christine Mady, Department of Architecture, School of ARTS, Aalto University, christine.mady@aalto.fi

This volume advances public space scholarship by treating trauma not as a discrete…

We had our second webinar: "Teaching beyond the city: Rural planning pedagogy"!

You can view the webinar here: https://ucl.zoom.us/rec/share/BTvaoPAT-NAk4C_8S-NjyODMx4gT_jRtTv32Dea7ip4NmcCtKidYHlvIWEXK3w3-.ToRuwoJN4_-AzlwK

Teaching rural planning is rarely a requirement of professional planning bodies and, today, the teaching of rural planning is often neglected in the design of undergraduate and graduate programs in the planning field. At the same time, rural communities are…

Youth as Agents of Hope: Urban Living Labs and Community-Engaged Learning

29–30 October 2026 | Larnaka, Cyprus

A two-day conference is combined effort of the Erasmus+ project ‘Education in Living Labs: Participatory Skills for Sustainable Urban Governance’ (PS-U-GO) and the ‘AESOP Thematic Group on Public Spaces and Urban Cultures’ (TG PSUC), hosted by the Society and Urban Form lab (SURF), Department of Architecture, University of Cyprus, and supported by Larnaka2030, the…

The ARL - Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association is looking for your ideas!

Do you work in planning practice or the spatial sciences, and did you complete your first degree no more than 12 years ago? Are you looking forward to critically discussing and developing your ideas together with other planners from academia and practice? Are you keen to jointly develop action-oriented knowledge for sustainable spatial development and want to end up with a…

ARL Congress 2026: European Regional Policy in Times of Transition

Cologne, Germany | 1 – 2 October 2026

European regions are undergoing multiple, overlapping transformations. While the green and digital transitions offer new opportunities, they also risk reinforcing existing spatial and social inequalities. Disparities within and between regions – urban and rural, central and peripheral, growing and shrinking – persist or are even deepening. The problem of ‘left-behind places…

The Förderkreis für Raum- und Umweltforschung (FRU) invites submissions for the FRU Sponsorship Award 2026, focusing on European Cohesion Policy in times of multiple transformations.

Contributions are particularly welcome on:

• the future of EU cohesion and regional policy
• regional disparities and socio-spatial transformations
• long-term perspectives on spatial development

The call is open to early-career researchers (Master’s, PhD, postdoc) and young professionals in…

AESOP is pleased to share an invitation from the SURE Facilitation and Synthesis Project (F&SR) at HafenCity University Hamburg, Germany, encouraging members of the planning community to participate in an international research survey on decision-making for sustainable urban development.

The project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), seeks to better understand how decisions are made across different planning contexts and what…

College | Management Unit: UCD College of Engineering and Architecture

School | Unit: UCD School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy

Post Title & Subject Area (if relevant): Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Regional and Urban Planning

Post Duration: Three-years (expected to begin on September 1, 2026 or a soon as possible thereafter)

Salary Scale: €66,055 - €104,600 per annum

Grade: Lecturer/Assistant Professor (Above the Bar)

Line Manager: Head of Subject or nominee

C…

----

 Position Summary:

The School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy at UCD is a dynamic, research-driven school with a clear focus on delivering excellent teaching programmes including professionally accredited undergraduate and graduate programmes in planning. It is ranked in the global top 150 for ‘Built Environment (QS Global Rankings), ranking number 1 in Ireland while the University is ranked in the global top 50 and number 1 in Ireland in the QS Global…