PIA honours ‘cutting edge’ planning textbook

Book cover: Australian Environmental Planning textbook

Griffith University has claimed the Cutting Edge Research and Teaching Award in the Queensland-wide Planning Institute of Australia’s (PIA) 2014 Awards for Planning Excellence.

At a ceremony held in Brisbane yesterday (November 7), Griffith’s Urban Research Program and Taylor and Francis/Routledge Publishers were honoured for theirAustralian Environmental Planning — Challenges and Future Prospectstextbook which will provide tertiary students with essential planning concepts to carry into their professional careers.

The textbook is edited by Dr Jason Byrne, Professor Neil Sipe and Professor Jago Dodson.

The State President of the PIA (Qld), Ms Kate Isles, said the award judges were impressed with the clarity of the textbook and the different approach to teaching planning it can bring to students.

“The textbook brings important environmental planning issues such as ‘green urbanism’ and ‘positive development’ into the planning course — topics which have not been covered in traditional planning texts,” Ms Isles said.

“The textbook is clearly laid out, providing tertiary students with access to online material so they can look at new and evolving ideas and concepts in planning.

“It also provides insights into the wider issues facing planners and highlights knowledge gaps within the planning profession.

“As a tangible sign of its popularity and success, the textbook has already been adopted by other Australian planning schools as a course textbook.”

Ms Isles said the calibre of entries in this year’s Awards for Planning Excellence was very high.

“We’ve been thrilled with the quality and diversity of the entries in this year’s awards, which demonstrate just how many projects are contributing to a brighter future for Queensland,” she said.