info@demo4ppl.eu

Newsletter

newsletter
Wave_White_bottom

PROJECT NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 1
December, 2023 – April, 2024

Project No:
Project acronym:
Project full title:

2023-1-EL01-KA220-HED-000164728
DEMo4PPL
Digital Education Modules 4 Participatory Planning

Have you ever experienced a sense that urban planning decisions might not fully capture the desires or meet the needs of the residents? Or if you are considering a career as a planner, have you ever found yourself seeking additional inspiration to enhance urban environments, ensuring they are more welcoming, secure, and inclusive for all residents?
In recent years, participatory planning has grown in importance as a useful approach to designing and planning cities and spaces. Involving citizens in urban planning processes gives people a meaningful voice in shaping the future of their communities by providing valuable insights into their own needs, challenges and opportunities, and by promoting ownership, transparency and accountability. On the other hand, by incorporating diverse perspectives and directly involving residents, urban planners can harness the collective wisdom, resources and creativity of local communities and stakeholders to create more vibrant, sustainable and resilient urban environments that truly reflect the needs and aspirations of the people who live there.

Participatory planning is an approach to decision-making and governance that involves actively engaging community members, stakeholders, and relevant actors in the process of planning, designing, and implementing projects or policies that affect them. Instead of top-down decision-making by government or other authorities, participatory planning seeks to include the voices, knowledge, and perspectives of those who will be impacted by the decisions being made.

What is the DEMo4PPL project about?

Despite the rapid development of digital PPL tools and innovative methods, their acknowledgement in the curricula of many HEIs across Europe follows a significantly slower pace, with negative impact on education and training of students and practitioners. This is primarily due to the lack of flexibility in the HEIs’ curricula to timely grasp key elements of technological evolution and adjust them to their needs and goals.
In this framework, the Erasmus+ project Digital Education Modules 4 Participatory Planning (DEMo4PPl) aims to create and pilot flexible learning pathways towards state-of-the-art knowledge on PPL and digital PPL tools providing grounds for the upskilling of students and practitioners to address current EU labour market needs and societal challenges and the purposeful use of digital pedagogy for educators, students and practitioners.

The project envisages the following activities:

– Identification of needs, gaps and pathways towards digital and modular curriculum design;

– Development, pilot implementation and assessment of curriculum and modules along with the corresponding digital pedagogy tools and teaching material;

– Multiple online and onsite dissemination activities.

And is expected to provide the following results and outcomes:

• Modular Participatory Planning Curriculum (ModPPC), material and resources with adjustability to different levels and disciplines of higher education;

• Digital pedagogy PPL toolkit aligned with the priorities of the Digital Education Action Plan;

• Open-access Knowledge Hub, i.e. a gateway to knowledge and information for participatory planning educators, students and practitioners;

• Upskilling current and future generations of EU practitioners in PPL.

What are the first DEMo4PPL achievements?

The DEMo4PPL project was launched in the beginning of December, 2023. A team of experts have carried out a targeted research and questionnaire survey to identify the needs and gaps in the field and to deliver:
• A report on Participatory Planning approaches and practice at EU level;
• Four (4) reports (one report for each participating country) on Participatory Planning (PPL) approaches and practice, including digital PPL tools, at national level;
• Four (4) reports on Participatory Planning courses in academic curricula and training programmes at national level.
• A synthetic report on the identification of needs and gaps and the corresponding pathways at consortium level.
The first drafts of the reports are ready. After a careful evaluation and peer review, their final versions will be presented in the following months.
Meanwhile, a series of national awareness events were held to raise awareness, engagement and debate on the importance of participatory planning and the use of digital tools to increase its reach and effectiveness across different disciplines and to promote debate, knowledge exchange and cooperation regarding participatory planning education.

March 26th, 2024

National Awareness Event – Greece
„+SOCIETY: Participatory planning for urban mobility”

More details

April 5th, 2024

National Awareness Event – Poland
Embedded within MapoFaktura 2024 – Collaborative Mapping for Common Green Łódź

More details

April 18th, 2024

National Awareness Event – Italy
‘Participatory Planning and Digital Tools, University and Practice’

More details

The last national awareness event will be held in Varna, Bulgaria on May 15th, 2024. A partner meeting on project implementation and a Workshop on “Identifying common needs and gaps for Participatory Planning”, which will allow project partners to discuss and analyse report findings and reflect on shared pathways are scheduled for May 20th and 21st, 2024 and will be held in Volos.

Who we are?

UNIVERSITY OF THESSALY
GREECE

University of Thessaly was founded in 1984. Its main mission is the promotion of scientific knowledge through research and the contribution to the cultural and economic development of the local community and wider society. It is known for its excellent research performance and outstanding scientific achievements, in accordance with the international standards. UTH, with 37 Departments, and 8 schools provides undergraduate and postgraduate programs and extracurricular modules in specific research and business fields, for over 43.000 students. The excellent equipped Laboratories of the different Departments and Research Units with more than 600 members of teaching and research staff support the students within their educational journey.

POLITECNICO DI TORINO
ITALY 

Established in 1859, POLITO is the oldest technical University in Italy and one of the most prestigious public institutions of the country for education and research in engineering, architecture, planning and design. Ranking among the first twenty European technical universities, it is globally recognized as a high quality centre for education and research. At POLITO, around 900 Professors and Researchers carry out research and provide education to over 35.000 students, of which 5.000 are international students coming from more than 100 countries. Educational curricula are distributed on a wide catalogue of degree courses including 29 Master of Science and 16 Doctoral courses, of which more than 30% are fully organized and taught in English.

VARNA UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT
BULGARIA

Varna University of Management (VUM) is an established business school specialised in social sciences and offers study programs in business, management, administration, tourism and cultural industries since 1999. It also provides innovative education in culinary arts, food technologies, arts, hospitality as well as in business information systems. VUM’s main achievements are related to research and project development targeting special-interest tourism, culinary arts, hospitality management, sustainable development and utilisation of IT and new technologies in the areas of tourism, services, education and culture. VUM’s programs are double-degree, delivered both in Bulgarian and English in campuses in Varna, Dobrich and Sofia and accordingly over 50% of the students and staff come from all over the world, creating a uniquely diverse intercultural community.

UNIWERSYTET LODZKI
POLAND

University of Lodz, established in 1945, is one of the leading public universities in Poland. For decades it has been also one of the biggest and most popular Polish universities and is repeatedly ranked among the top higher education institutions in the country. The 13 faculties offer 164 fields of study and 151 specialisations. In addition, the University offers several doctoral programmes in 4 doctoral schools and 50 postgraduate study programmes. University of Lodz educates about 24,000 students, including about 3,000 foreign students on full cycles and as part of exchange programs.
In 2022 University of Lodz joined EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY OF POST-INDUSTRIAL CITIES (UNIC) – one of 44 alliances of European Universities.

SILLOGOS ELLINON MICHANIKON POLEODOMIAS, CHOROTAXIAS KAI PERIFERIAKIS ANAPTIXIS
GREECE

The Hellenic Association of Urban and Regional Planners (SEMPXPA) was founded in 1998 and it constitutes the collective body of the specialty’s engineers. Full members are graduates of the Departments of Planning and Regional Development, accredited by the Technical Chamber of Greece. Other engineers with an extensive academic and professional background in City and Regional Planning, also accredited by the Technical Chamber of Greece, can become members.
The aim of the Association is the respond to its members’ needs during the practice of their profession, including contribution to the ongoing improvement of spatial planning in the country  and interventions aiming to safeguarding the planners’ interests etc.

Where to read more about the DEMo4PPL initiative?

Facebook
Website
LinkedIn

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Project number: 2023‐1‐EL01‐KA220‐HED‐000164728Our mailing address is:
info@demo4ppl.eu

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

european logo
Contact us
+30 24210 74476
info@demo4ppl.eu
About
Newsletter