School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering

Planning graduation will take place at 10.30am on Friday 5th July in the Whitla Hall

Planning at Queen's Unversity has been ranked in 10^th place in the Guardian's University Guide 2014: league table for building and town and country planning.

For more details see Guardian website here

The Irish Scottish Forum for Spatial Planning have announced the dates of their next event “Sustaining Small Island Communities”, this will include a week of activities in Scotland and Ireland and a conference in The Council Chamber, Queen’s University Belfast on the 31^st May 2013.

For more details contact Michael Murray

5.00pm, Senate Room, Lanyon Bldg, QUB

You are encouraged to look at the PNUK Manifesto for Planning before this event. There is no charge for this event, but to book a place please register in advance here or phone Elaine at Community Places 028 90239444.

This seminar will drawing on case studies gathered as part of a campaign for a more democratic planning system in Scotland, to  examine how the tension between participation and efficiency is playing out. It will highlight how the “costs of delay” discourse has become a powerful means of sidelining those who express opposition to development, legitimising the use of a range of techniques to silence dissenting voices and show that “delay” is not the only cost associated with contemporary planning processes; the human price being paid by members of the public who seek environmental justice through an often unyielding system represents a hidden toll on the legitimacy of planning and democracy. The seminar will discuss a new focus in theory and practice on ordinary citizens’ experiences of planning, reflecting on how they illuminate key questions about what should be considered just, and how a more democratic planning ethos can be shaped.

Andy Inch is a lecturer in the Dept of Town and Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield. His research interests focus on the politics of planning reform, particularly their impacts on planning cultures, professionalism and the lives of ‘ordinary’ citizens.

1.00pm, DKB.03.005, David Keir Building, Stranmillis Rd

The 45th Conference on the theme Transformative Geographies: Critcal Reflections on Environment, Sustainability and Governmentality, will take place from 16th-18th May in NUI Galway.

Keynote speakers

Prof David Harvey, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Geography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) & Prof Douglas Sherman, Professor and Chair of the Geography Department, at the University of Alabama

for more details please click here

FAB announced it's lunchtime talk series in the Golden Thread Gallery, at 1.00pm all are welcome.

9/5  Mapping the City forum illustrate maps and
         analysis

16/5  ‘The inner city as a place to live’

23/5  City Neighbourhoods the current condition

30/5  IBBelfast The International dimension

6/6     Summerschool 2013, ‘Why are there no trees?‘

FThe School has organised this lunchtime session for final year students at Queen's University to discuss their opportunities for further studies within the school, and meet with the staff involved on the various courses Lunch will be provided. UG studio, DKB.03.010 1.00pm to 2.30pm.

A team of five “mini builders” have depicted the city’s buildings at a scale of 1.500. The team surveyed each and every building and created a large scale wooden model with the help of the FabLab, Queens University Belfast and the University of Ulster. As the model grows visitors will be able to see their neighbourhood in relation to the city centre, with vacant sites highlighted in bright red. For the first time the challenges and opportunities in repairing our city can be clearly seen.

The model will become a vital resource, setting a long term vision for Belfast.

Golden Thread Gallery, 84 – 94 Great Patrick Street, Belfast, BT1 2LU

Professor William J V Neill (Department of Geography and Environment, University of Aberdeen) and Dr Michael Murray (Institute of Spatial and Environmental Planning, Queen's University Belfast) launched their edited book (with Dr Berna Grist, School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin) entitled "Relaunching Titanic: memory and Marketing in the New Belfast" (Routledge), at the European Academy of the Urban Environment (EA.UE)in Berlin. The book explores how Titanic heritage has been mobilised in the 'post conflict' context of Belfast, the city that built the world's most famous ship.

Pictured (from left to right) Dr Güenter Schlusche, Planning and Building Coordinator, The Berlin Wall Memorial, Professor William J V Neill, Professor Dr Hanns-Uve Schwedler, Director of the EA.UE and Dr Michael Murray.

The work is part of an ongoing collaboration under the auspices of the Irish Scottish Forum for Spatial Planning.

For further information contact Michael Murray

The purpose of our open day is to allow you to gain further information about your potential Planning course. There will be opportunities to speak with Planning staff and students to find out more about the specific degree programmes for which you are holding offers, to learn more about Planning and life at Queen’s University.

For more details click here

Postgraduate students on the MSc in Environmental Planning Course are to travel to Berlin, Germany for a six day field study visit as part of their module in International Planning Studies (EVP8015).

Information and talks on "What do Planners do?", career and workplace opportunities, CV writing, student support and skills development. 2.00pm - 5.00pm DKB.03.010 (Undergarduate Studio)

The purpose of our open day is to allow you to gain further information about your potential Planning course. There will be opportunities to speak with Planning staff and students to find out more about the specific degree programmes for which you are holding offers, to learn more about Planning and life at Queen’s University. For more details click here

Shifting Ethnic Boundaries: New Hispanic Migration Settlement Patterns and Rural Population Change in the USA This seminar is being hosted by the Institute of Spatial and Environmental Planning and will be held in the Seminar Room, Level 3 David Keir Building, DKB/03/005, at 4.00pm Dr. Daniel T. Lichter is the Ferris Family professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Professor of Sociology, and Director of the Cornell Population Center. He has published widely on population and public policy. His recent work has focused on changing ethnoracial boundaries, as measured by changing patterns of interracial marriage and residential segregation in the United States. He has provided the first national estimates of racial residential segregation in Hispanic "boom towns" in the Midwest and South, focusing on the spatial assimilation and economic incorporation of the new immigrants into local communities.

ISEP Staff member Dr. Geraint Ellis has been promoted to Professor in the School of Planning, Architecture & Civil Engineering.

For more details about Prof. Ellis please click here

ISEP staff Michael Murray, Stephen McKay and David Houston presented a paper on Pilgrim Cultures: Places, movement and Meaning at the 9th International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability in Hiroshima, Japan, based on their recent research in Spain, Northern Ireland and USA. During their time in Japan they visited Shinto/Buddist Pilgrim shrines at Miyajima and Shizuoka to further their research into world pilgrim routes.

For more details on the conference click here

Professor Malachy McEldowney received a lifetime service award from the Royal Town Planning Institute, "Malachy has encouraged new students starting their careers and has helped lead education within the profession in its evolution from land use planning to spatial planning".