Learning Objectives

Equity, Diversity, Social Justice, and Inclusion: Explain key issues of equity, diversity, and social justice, including planners’ role in expanding choice and opportunity for all persons; approaches to planning for the needs of disadvantaged groups; how the field of planning has been shaped by inequality based on race, class, ethnicity, gender, and other forms of difference; approaches to reducing inequities through critical examination of past and current systems; and approaches to promoting racial and economic equity..

Sustainability, Resilience, and Climate Justice: Explain environmental, economic, and social/political factors that contribute to sustainable communities, approaches to reducing impacts of climate change, and to creating equitable and climate‐adapted futures.

Professional Ethics and Responsibility: Explain key issues of planning ethics and related questions of the ethics of public decision‐making, research, and client representation (including the provisions of the AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, and APA’s Ethical Principles in Planning).

Planning History and Theory: Explain the evolution and current practice of planning in communities, cities, regions, and nations; how planning has advanced and hindered the attainment of social, racial, and climate justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion; expectations about planning outcomes in different local and national contexts; conceptual models about what planning is and how it works; past and present conceptions of the future, including the relationship between planning and the future; the role of planning in responding to the global climate crisis.

Planning Law and Institutions: Explain behaviors and structures available to bring about sound planning outcomes; mechanisms and practices for ensuring equitable and inclusive decision‐making; legal and institutional contexts within which planning occurs in the U.S. and/or internationally.

Urban and Regional Development: Explain political, economic, social, and environmental explanations of and insights on historical, present, and future development; relationships between the built and natural environments and individual and community health and well‐being; planning responses to mitigate climate change, reduce risks, and recover from climate‐exacerbated impacts; interactions – flows of people, materials, ideas, and cultures – across world regions.

Planning Process and Engagement: Explain the planning process and methods of engaging effectively and equitably with diverse communities and stakeholders; plan creation and implementation; methods of design and intervention to understand and influence the future; cultural competence.

Analytical Skills and Tools: Be able to employ research and critical analysis skills for preparing and conducting research, including a combination of the following: quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection, analysis, and forecasting; methods of geo‐spatial analysis, mapping and data visualization; data analytics and urban technology.

Professional, Communication, and Leadership Skills: Be able to work in teams and with professionals in allied fields; to exert professional leadership in the planning context; to effectively engage a variety of stakeholders using written, oral, and graphic communication.