AESOP newsletter - August 2026

The AESOP community is deeply saddened by the passing of Giorgio Piccinato, one of the founding figures of our Association and its President from 1992 to 1994. His vision, intellectual generosity and enduring commitment played an important role in shaping AESOP and the development of planning education across Europe. We remember him with profound gratitude and extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, colleagues and all those whose lives and work he influenced…

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…

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!

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The 21st AESOP Young Academics Conference invites contributions that explore how planning operates in contexts characterised by uncertainty, incomplete or ambiguous information, contested evidence, conflicting values, and rapidly changing socio-ecological and socio technical conditions. Uncertainty is no longer understood merely as a technical limitation to be reduced through better data, models or forecasts. It is increasingly recognised as a structural…

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…

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…

The 1st International School on Landscape, Heritage and Sustainable Development (Cilento, Italy, 7–11 October 2026), organised by Heritage International Institute and Eurac Research, provides an intensive and practice-oriented programme combining international lectures, fieldwork and a Policy Lab focused on landscape governance, cultural heritage, territorial development, climate transition and innovation. Participants will work alongside leading scholars and practitioners…

7–9 October 2026 | Aalborg University, Denmark | 3 or 5 ECTS

How can planning contribute not only to understanding urban transformations, but also to actively shaping transformative change?

Aalborg University invites PhD researchers to participate in the PhD course Planning Urban Transformations and Transitions, organised by the Planning for Urban Sustainability (PLUS) research group.
Urban planning is inherently concerned with long-term transformative change. Yet, the dynamics…

Οn 9 May 2026, the Department of Planning and Regional Development (UTh, Volos/Greece) organized the “Symposium on Spatial Planning” in Delphi, at the European Cultural Centre of Delphi, where the “Delphi Declaration on Spatial Planning” was signed. 

The Declaration constitutes an important initiative of the Greek academic community, with the participation of higher education institutions, including the University of Thessaly, the National Technical University of Athens, the…

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…

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 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…