The ECTP-CEU’s European Urban and Regional Planning Awards give recognition to planning strategies, schemes or developments which make an outstanding contribution to the quality of life in urban and rural regions of Europe. 
This upcoming round of the awards will focus on planning for sustainable energy solutions. It is being run in partnership with the SPECIAL project (Spatial Planning and Energy for Communities in All Landscapes) in collaboration with the TCPA (Town and Country Planning Association).

ECTP-CEU is proud to organise the 10th European Urban and Regional Planning Awards in partnership with SPECIAL project and Intelligent Energy Europe. This partnership enhances the integration of sustainable energy and spatial planning. Most spatial planning projects are described in relation with sustainable energy. Spatial planning is an integrated approach and planners can describe in what sense a sustainable project allowed energy efficiency; not only with the quality of the building, but also with the transportation systems, the spatial composition itself, the quality of use and the management of natural resources.

So the SPECIAL colour of the 10th award, focusing on sustainable energy, will enhance the quality of spatial planning and sustainability without restricting the candidacies in most cases.

This is also a particular opportunity now that we have refreshed the European Charter of Spatial Planning stressing the emergency for strategy, participation processes and sustainable development in all processes of spatial planning.
The Award will be open to spatial planners and municipalities from the 47 European Countries of the Council of Europe.

All details will be announced at the launch at the Biennial in Cascais on September 19 2013.

The aim of the Awards Scheme is to:
• Demonstrate to the general public, and to the planning profession in particular, successful and innovative planning projects and developments through which the quality of life of European citizens is enhanced and improved, socially, economically and environmentally.
• Promote the views, ideas and Vision of ECTP-CEU on the future of European cities and regions as expressed in the European Charter 2013 to create and enhance conditions favourable to the promotion of sustainable development.
• Illustrate the diversity and wide scope of planning activity today. For 2013-2014, we are working in partnership with the IEE funded SPECIAL project on Spatial Planning and Energy and the Awards will focus exclusively on projects that show how planning can help to deliver sustainable energy solutions. Projects should demonstrate clearly the advantages of the participatory planning process, facilitated and enabled by professional planners, showing how the co-operation and participation of stakeholders, Local Authorities, energy providers, development agencies and interested citizens can have a synergistic effect of benefit to the whole planning process.
• The scope of the awards embraces published plans and studies, projects involving community participation, and significant physical development, either at a trans-national, national, trans-regional, regional or at a local scale.
The panel will take into account one or several of the following criteria:
• demonstrates the role of spatial planning in proactively supporting the uptake/ deployment of renewable / sustainable energy solutions through embedding climate-change mitigation and adaptation in planning policies
• application of the principles of sustainable development and links with sustainable energy, for the enhancement of the environment and any recognisable social and economic benefit resulting from the achievement in terms of human well-being, greater safety or greater efficiency; (content)
• the originality and innovation of the achievement or approach; new methods and approaches, planning funding, participation, coordination between energy planning and spatial planning…… (methods)
• the quality of the professional work involved in design, in communication, in cooperation, in the development of planning concepts or in the application of planning techniques, (skills)
• the extent to which the scheme may serve as a reference for other work elsewhere or as a base for the development of further related schemes; (reference tool)
• the role played by the planner as enabler or co-ordinator and the demonstration of the added value brought to the project through the involvement of young planners (implementation and diffusion)
• town planners have proactively engaged and communicated the role of spatial planning in delivering sustainable energy solutions with community groups, politicians and local stakeholders leading to better awareness and support for climate change mitigation.
• demonstrable success of local authority planners working with energy providers to create low carbon solutions to new or existing settlements.

The Awards
ECTP-CEU and SPECIAL project will present Certificates of Achievement to the winners. Awards will be given to those entries considered outstanding according to the assessment criteria.
The Awards will be made to the authority or body responsible for the commissioning or production of the scheme and to the professional planners involved.
The Award ceremony will take place during Spring 2014. The ECTP-CEU and the Committee of Regions will ensure a large media coverage for this event and of its winners in partnership with TCPA (the lead organisation of SPECIAL). Each winner will have his or her project published in the newsletter of the Committee of Regions.