AESOP extends its sincere appreciation to the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) for hosting the 20th AESOP Heads of Schools Meeting, held on 13 March 2026 at the NMBU campus in Ås. The event brought together planning school leaders, scholars and practitioners from across Europe, both in person and online, to engage in discussions on current challenges and future directions in planning education.
The meeting opened with welcoming remarks from the Heads of Schools of NTNU, UiS and NMBU, together with the local organising team. Participants were then inspired by two outstanding keynote lectures delivered by Andrea Frank and Siri Eriksen, who addressed pressing environmental, institutional and technological challenges facing planning education and practice.
A lively panel discussion, moderated by Matthew Cashmore, further explored these themes through an interactive dialogue with the audience. The programme also featured a presentation of the AESOP Quality Recognition Programme by Tijana Dabovic, Chair of the AESOP Excellence in Education Board.
The afternoon sessions were dedicated to parallel workshops, where participants reflected on innovative pedagogical approaches and emerging challenges for planning education, including interdisciplinary learning environments, climate mitigation and adaptation, digital technologies such as AI and digital twins, and examples of awarded AESOP Quality Recognition programmes.
The event concluded with reflections by Maria Håkanson, AESOP President, and Grete Patil, Vice-Dean of Education at the Faculty of Landscape and Society at NMBU, followed by a guided tour of the historic NMBU campus and a social dinner that provided further opportunities for exchange and networking.
AESOP is deeply grateful to the Local Organising Committee at NMBU, and in particular Anja Standal and Håkon Gyran, together with colleagues Matthew Cashmore, Jin Xue, Andreas Hengstermann, Roberta Cucca, Knut Bjørn Stokke, Synne Movik and Kristine Lien Skog, for their dedication and excellent organisation.
We also warmly acknowledge the valuable collaboration of colleagues from NTNU (Rolee Aranya, Anna Ewa Kaczorowska, Mrudhula Koshy), UiS (Fabio Hernández Palacio, Ana Llopis Alvarez), and partners including SITRAP – Centre for Integrated and Transdisciplinary Teaching in Planning, as well as FUS – Forum for Education in Spatial Planning under KS (the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities).
AESOP also extends its thanks to Dean Per Martin for welcoming the AESOP Executive Committee during the opening of this four-day gathering, and to all 65 participants attending on campus and 20 joining online for their active engagement.
AESOP greatly appreciates the hospitality, commitment and collaborative spirit of the NMBU team and all partners involved, which made this meeting a truly stimulating and productive gathering for the planning education community.
