Editorial by Dominique Lancrenon
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The ECTP-CEU, with Joao Teixeira, opened the Decade of Urban Planning 2011 2021, proposing to all national and international associations of Spatial Planners to come together and bring to light to the general public the highlights, the striking facts and outstanding works produced by our profession over the past century and our shared vision to improve the cities and territories in the early twenty-first century. A century has passed since planners created their first organisations to address the emergency health and welfare of European cities: since their origin, these organizations have demonstrated that planning associated the skills of Engineers, Architects, Geographers, Landscapers, Surveyors, and of Economists. They guided and accompanied the setting up of urban policies regulating the excesses of the industrial capitalist city; provide better living conditions for housing, transportation, natural spaces and city gardens, health improvement, access to sports and recreation, along with the labor organisation. |
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A century later, January 28 2012 in Dortmund, AESOP celebrated its 25th anniversary. And as part of the Decade of Planning, invited all international planners associations to gather and create more synergies between them. Klaus Kuntzman, the first AESOP President, invited planners to publicly take position on the current situation. I suggest to open this newsletter in line with that invitation: Spatial Planners need to publicly take position and show what is best for the development of cities and territories, and also to denounce what sometimes makes it worse. This decade of planning is an opportunity for all our associations to come forward and show the work we drive that builds the city of tomorrow. A first exhibition was held in Paris in November 2011 and is now available to be used and developed in different European places. A book is in preparation for publication bringing together texts from major European Spatial Planners. A shared calendar is open on our website offering the possibility to each of our associations to display their events. The New Charter of Athens is a document recognised by all our schools and universities as well as among political authorities. Let’s place it on the frontispiece of our organisations and pursue its enrichment to meet the challenges of our cities and territories. This year’s European Urban and Regional Planning Awards is driven with the support of the Committee of Regions: this will be an opportunity to bring our best work to the Summit of Europe's Regions and Cities in Copenhagen, and celebrate them in Brussels on December 7 2012. Let’s grasp the opportunity to use this decade to create the desire of Spatial Planning and urbanity in all our territories and lay the foundations for a genuine European territorial cohesion. In particular, I express the wish that this decade will enable all young planners from Europe to find in our professional organisations the required support to develop the best training, open to recognised qualifications and contribute to the construction European territory. Work on the qualification recognition continues in this direction with all of your associations and we are moving forward to the establishment of a European Spatial Planners status. The opening to young planners from our associations, with specific workshops, opportunities for academic exchanges between countries, between our professional structures is for me a priority that I wish to share with all associations; regional, national and International. Sincerely Yours. Dominique Lancrenon ECTP-CEU President |
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