Introducing the Global Planners Network Self-Diagnostic Tool

Dear APA Members,

Planners and their organizations throughout the world provide leadership in addressing many societal issues. Often, challenges and successes cross national and institutional borders. Several organizations — including APA as the representative of U.S. planning — have been assisting each other in recent years, sharing best practices, and collaborating through the Global Planners Network.

The GPN is a loosely affiliated coalition of national planning organizations from many countries that was formed in advance of UN-HABITAT's 2006 World Urban Forum 3 in Vancouver. The GPN convened a World Planners Congress in the days leading up to WUF3 and has continued to advance the principles of good planning and international collaboration.

One way of fostering international collaboration is through the self-diagnostic tool developed by the U.K.'s Royal Town Planning Institute. The self-diagnostic tool — a component of the GPN Action Plan adopted at WUF3 — will help the global planning community understand the capacity for planning in many countries.

You can help by completing the self-diagnostic tool. In the message below, written by the RTPI's Vincent Goodstadt, you can learn more about the self-diagnostic tool and link to it directly. In the information you provide, indicate which U.S. state you're from and choose "U.S." in the drop-down menu of nations.

Future GPN activities include the upcoming GPN Congress, October 31–November 2 in Zhenjiang, China, which will highlight critical planning issues organized around themes of urbanization, poverty, and climate change and hazards. Featured speakers will include Dr. Anna Tibaijuka, Director of UN-HABITAT and a keynote speaker at APA's 2008 National Planning Conference, and Mr. Shi Heping, Party Secretary of Zhenjiang.

The GPN Congress will be followed by the World Urban Forum 4, only 30 km away in Nanjing. The World Urban Forum has become the premier international gathering to exchange knowledge, expertise, and solutions on managing growing towns and cities. WUF4 will take place November 3–7, hosted by the Government of the People's Republic of China in partnership with UN-HABITAT. Online registration for the GPN Congress will be available shortly.

I encourage you to learn more about the Global Planners Network at www.globalplannersnetwork.org.

Sincerely,

W. Paul Farmer, FAICP
APA Executive Director and CEO

P.S. APA's 2008 China Study Tour, October 21–30, immediately precedes the GPN Congress. Tour participants are encouraged to extend their stay through November 7 to attend the Congress and the World Urban Forum. Registration for the China Tour is open on APA's website.

Global Planners Network

International Assessment of the Capacity for Planning

APA and its partners have set up the Global Planners Network, which aims to build the global capacity to undertake effective planning. To help with this, the GPN is promoting a self-diagnostic tool that helps planners throughout the world think about priorities and the gaps in the national capacity to respond.

The tool will help us learn how different states plan and manage human settlements, and to find out what the priorities are in planning these settlements in future. It will also help the GPN develop its network of planning contacts and establish partnerships and working relationships.

We need as many people (organizations or individuals) involved in planning human settlements to help us by completing this assessment online. The tool is available in English, French, Spanish, and Chinese, and modules have been developed for different sectors.

We strongly encourage members to complete the tool themselves. Success depends on reaching as many planners around the world as possible. Please help by:

• completing the tool yourself for the region or country that you know best;
• advertising the tool on your own local website if you have one (using the link below);
• forwarding this message to your own planning contacts and inviting them to complete it.

Click here for the GPN self-diagnostic tool.