As we wrap up 2024, we want to take a moment to reflect on the past year’s achievements, milestones and stories that have shaped the year here at the University of Brighton.
There’s so much to celebrate – we’ve seen groundbreaking research, community impact and inspiring student success across every area of the university. Continue reading “Looking back on our 2024: A year of innovation, creativity and impact “
We are incredibly proud to share that our MSc Town Planning (Chartered Apprenticeship) graduate Louise Brace has been awarded the RTPI Research Excellence Student Award at the 2024 Planning Research Conference.
This award, which recognizes the outstanding research of planning students globally, is a testament to Louise’s dedication and the quality of her work.
Her dissertation “The Role of Local Planning Authority Plan Making in Rural Renewable Energy Production,” explores a pressing issue combining topics around climate change, energy security, and local governance.
Through her research, Louise developed a criteria-based policy evaluation framework that could considerably improve how Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) support renewable energy (RE) development in future.
Continue reading “Brighton graduate wins RTPI Research Excellence Award “
It was a proud moment for the MSc Town Planning and MSc Town Planning (Chartered Apprenticeship) course team when its students graduated in February this year.
We were delighted that so many could attend the Graduation Ceremony at the Brighton Centre. This year the majority of graduates were from the MSc Town Planning (Chartered Apprenticeship), a growing number since the route was first offered in September 2019, following its national Trailblazer status.
Continue reading “Town Planning MSc and Chartered Apprenticeship graduates 2024”
Andrew Coleman, Senior Lecturer on the MSc Town Planning and Chartered Apprenticeship Degree, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute.
The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) is a leading membership organisation and a Chartered Institute responsible for maintaining professional standards and accrediting world class planning courses nationally and internationally. The organisation champions the power of planning in creating prosperous places and vibrant communities. Fellowship is one of the highest professional attainments available to a planner and Fellows must have made a major personal contribution to the planning profession for the benefit of the public.
Andrew Coleman’s research reflects a deep specialism in environmentalism and how to manage the risk of flooding through the planning system. He has contributed to government, government agency and research organisation projects and gained a wide range of experience, from working in private and public sectors, including in academia, as well as practising internationally, in Trinidad and Tobago. He is co-author of guidance on delivering better water management through the planning system and also a board member of the University of Brighton’s Centre for Earth Observation Science.
Speaking about the Fellowship Andrew Coleman said, “I am very honoured to be elected as Fellow of the RTPI. Ever since joining the RTPI, I have retained a profound belief that planning can deliver a better present and future for people and the environment.
“Pursuing this objective is becoming even more urgent given the climate and biodiversity crises facing the world. In my current teaching, research, RTPI and environmental activist roles, I am dedicated to equipping current and future planners with the tools to meet these challenges and my election as a Fellow demonstrates the importance that the RTPI places on addressing these issues.”
The University of Brighton has been recognised for the quality of its teaching and student outcomes in a UK-wide evaluation of higher education institutions.
The university has today secured a Silver award in the national Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The award confirms that the student experience and student outcomes across all of the university’s undergraduate provision including apprenticeships are “typically very high quality”, delivering excellence above the rigorous standards set for the UK’s higher education providers. The rating lasts for four years, until September 2027.
The TEF is a national scheme run by the Office for Students (OfS). It aims to encourage universities to improve and deliver excellence in the areas that students care about the most: teaching, learning and achieving positive outcomes from their studies.
Continue reading “Brighton secures national Silver Award for teaching excellence”
Congratulations to Town Planning graduate Laura Hemsley for reaching the finals of the prestigious Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Awards for Research Excellence (Student Award).
Now in their ninth year, the awards continue to recognise and promote high quality, impactful spatial planning research. Laura was nominated for her masters dissertation, ‘The Effectiveness of Strategic Planning Arrangements in Mineral Planning’.
We caught up with her to find out more about her dissertation, the support from her lecturers and what it meant to be nominated for the award.
Continue reading “Graduate finalist in prestigious town planning awards”
It’s not often these days that you hear people say ‘money is not the problem’, but that was one of the more surprising contributions at a recent Planning for Water conference hosted by the Centre for Aquatic Environments and the Royal Town Planning Institute SE region at the University.
The 19th June conference brought together almost 70 town planners, engineers, developers, academics, charities, water companies and government officials to discuss solutions to some of the current challenges that water quality, water scarcity, climate change and the biodiversity crisis present to the building sector.
Continue reading “Discussing solutions to current challenges at the Planning for Water conference”
You can now apply for a bursary of £5,000 towards the cost of your fees from the RTPI.
Continue reading “Future town planners – new £5,000 bursary for 2023!”
Laura Hemsley graduated with distinction from our Town Planning MSc and is now working as a Town Planner at Jacobs. We caught up with Laura and found out more about what drew her to postgraduate study on our Town Planning MSc and what she loved about the course.
What were you doing before your postgraduate studies at Brighton?
I had just graduated from the University of Leeds with a BSc Degree (1st Hons) in Geological Sciences.
What made you choose Town Planning at the University of Brighton?
It is RTPI and RICS Accredited – this significantly drew me to the course as it meant once I had finished the course, I could immediately apply for a Licentiate membership – which is for graduates who have completed a fully Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)I accredited qualification. Becoming a Licentiate member of the RTPI is the first step towards becoming a Chartered Town Planner via the Licentiate Assessment of Professional Competence (L-APC).
The University of Brighton offered the option module of ‘Environmental Placement’ which was the best module choice on offer as it allowed students (i.e. me) to work within either a local planning authority or the private planning sector for three months (i.e. I worked within the private planning sector). This was extremely valuable as I was able to understand planning framework and legalisation policy, planning applications in a real-life examples, which gave me the expertise and skills for a future job in planning.
Continue reading “Gain skills and expertise for your career on our Town Planning postgraduate degree”
The Royal Town Planning Institute has just confirmed that they have agreement from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to extend the Future Planners Bursary for this coming academic year 22-23. The scheme will again support new students who are going into planning.
You can apply for the Future Planner Bursary (England) if you are starting our Town Planning MSc course in Sept/Oct 2022. Continue reading “RTPI bursary agreed for 2022!”