The planning school working within the community

The M.Plan is deeply engaged with the university, with the community and with the professional world. All of the core staff are chartered members of the professional institutes and they are active on various committees and initiatives of both the IPI and the RTPI. The annual UCC planning conference – which is organised by the students themselves – is an important event on the calendar for planning practitioners.

The real-world learning on the M.Plan is particularly exciting and innovative. We have established informal partnerships with community groups, trading associations, residents associations and local government bodies all of whom have faced planning and sustainable development challenges of various kinds. By aligning the learning requirements and skills development of the M.Plan students to the specific needs of these groups, a range of effective projects have been completed over the years.

Examples of this kind of learning include: a strategy for the regeneration of the historic North Main street area (prepared for the local businesses and presented to the Lord Mayor); a consultation dialogue on mobility and traffic management with the residents of the Marsh, a heritage study for Youghal Town Council and a Rural development strategy for the village of Rathcormac and its surroundings. 

For the students, this kind of learning is multi-layered, rich and practical and it provides a solid piece of work to be included in their CV.