SCD4301 - Participatory planning: Local, national and international perspectives

Leader(s): TBA

Offered

Gippsland Second semester 2009 (Off-campus)

Synopsis

Public and private sector practitioners are increasingly required to work across planning areas, adopt a whole of government approach to planning issues, develop a shared values perspective, engage with the community context, facilitate a community voice, address ecological imperatives, as well as achieve successful outcomes according to pre-determined key performance indicators. This unit will require students to reflect on, analyse and critique their current practices, by developing a critical understanding of the importance of participatory planning within their organisations or community and to analyse and evaluate their perspective within local, national and international frameworks.

Objectives

On completion of this unit, students should be able to: critically understand the theory, principles and models of participatory social and community planning, and the intellectual and institutional links between this form of planning and others: program planning, statutory planning, strategic/urban planning, business planning; Demonstrate skills in working within, across and between public and private sector organisations including with various levels of government and with practitioners from the range of disciplines involved in planning and implementation; critically understand and demonstrate the knowledge and skills required to manage planning projects, including vision, needs analysis, and the effective design of structures, processes, timing and resourcing dimensions, and of implementation, problem-solving and evaluation strategies, matched with effective corrective strategies and /or sanctions/protocols; understand the principles of and important areas of practice in community development, informed by social justice and ecological sustainability and the involvement of diverse people and perspectives; understand the interconnections between community and place, and their relevance to the organisational contexts in which people work, or in relation to which they live; demonstrate skills in facilitating the engagement of communities in planning processes for community- defined purposes, ensuring that the community has decision making power and is adequately resourced throughout the planning and implementation phases with necessary information, skills development and other resources.; skills in facilitating community planning as action research, with full community participation, continuous feedback, and collective revisions and problem solving; demonstrated capacity to integrate all learning into a planning case study; demonstrate excellent presentation and IT skills in contributing and arguing their case study in a virtual forum.

Assessment

Journal (2000 words): 20%
Case study (5500 words): 60%
Case study presentation (1500 words): 15%

Off-campus attendance requirements

1 hour per week in on-line activities and discussion. Students will also be encouraged to consult regularly with the unit adviser, where possible in face-to-face meetings.