CPiP Learning Report

The purpose of this learning report is to provide an overview of the Community Participation in Planning (CPiP) project, disseminate the learning captured across the three project locations - Aveiro, Belfast and Milan - and support the development of a participatory skills framework for a range of actors to appreciate, as well as to foster, innovative ways of operationalising community participation in contemporary planning processes. The Skills Framework is presented in a separate document and has been created to help support the work of land use/spatial planners, community planning officers, local government officers, community activists and other actors interested in understanding the core skills for participation. A range of outputs including a video which captured learning from both partners and participants and the Skills Framework is available on the CPiP website and on the EU’s Erasmus+ Project Results Platform At the core of the Erasmus+ programme is the notion of supporting education and training across sectors, institutions and jurisdictions. With this in mind, a goal of the project was to enhance the quality and relevance of the learning offered in higher education teaching by informing curriculum development and innovative approaches on participatory approaches to planning places and public services. The learning report captures and offers ways to navigate through the complexities of both participatory practices and the associated vocabulary used. The complexity deepens further when the participatory and planning arenas intertwine. The nature of citizen engagement is rapidly evolving, given the growing economic, structural and long-term pressures on local government and public services. Alongside this, is the impact of new social and environmental dynamics affecting the way people live, work and interact.