Kevin Murray

Chair

Capacity for Change

A planner of the future

PiP skills forum as response to…

• Changing skills needs, priorities

• Changing legislation, knowledge, practice

• Reduced staff resources, post-recession

• Issues of leadership

• New ways of learning

• Need for collaboration – learning & practice

Portal www.partnersinplanning.scot

• A&DS

• Scottish Consultants Network

• Key Agencies Group

• Dundee, Glasgow & Heriot-Watt Universities

• HOPS, COSLA

• Improvement Service, PAS

• Homes for Scotland

• RTPI Scotland & RTPI Education

• Scottish Government

• Young Planners

PiP hierarchy of activity

1 Development of skills/impacts

2 Promotion of information/opportunity

3 Co-ordination of players/strategy

4 Analysis of gaps/priorities

5 Evidence of issues/need

PiP principles

• Support all professionals involved in statutory system

• As simple as possible - not overcomplicate or overburden authorities

• Recognise differing needs in different roles and different career stages

• Need to be cost effective

• Approaches delivered through partnership of organisations and sectors

• Public sector planner focus - but embrace all sectors

• Ensure new learning suitable for organisation

• Sharing good practice and experiences

Possible future steps

Collaborative review – with Skills Development Scotland

Skills & experience sharing

Mentoring

Planning Performance Frameworks

Kitemarked training and CPD

Change & pressure

Legislation, policy & plans

Technology, data + design

Engaged, active public

Lifestyle, expectations

Political and media visibility

Speed & efficiency

Dealing with change

• What is changing

• How to understand

• How to accept

• How to envision change

• How to move on

Planner of the future?

• Knowledge

• Skills

• Culture

• Behaviours

New culture and skills ?

Simplification & streamlining?

(1) Knowledge

• Well informed about latest planning practice

• Legislation yes, but also about thinking behind good practice

• Climate change & resilience

• Design & well-being

• Future market aware- alternative and emergent uses and activities - town centre change, housing & social care, innovation & start-ups.

(2) Skills needs and opportunities

• Collaborative working

• Community engagement

• Development finance

• Health and wellbeing

• Heritage and archaeology

• Infrastructure provision

• Negotiation

• Resilience and sustainability

• Strategic planning

• Urban design

(2) Skills

• Good communicators and presenters– GIS, video, social media and any new technologies.

• Facilitators, mediators and brokers

• Good analysis & judgement skills– of place solutions, of strategies and processes, but also – of characters, developers, designers & community representatives.

(3) Culture

• Flexible and adaptable - revisit and re-address any situation that changes. Not overly rigid.

• Balance of intellectual curiosity and creativity in analyses - able to generate visions, ideas and solutions.

• Explain though argument and presentation - for committees, communities or even appeals.

• A committed and happy future planner is best placed to do this effectively.

• Both aspirational utopian and a pragmatic realist – a utopian realist!

(4) Behaviours

• Balance of open-ness, confidence and empathetic humility - especially when working with public

• Show we care about people and places we work for

• Develop a protective thick skin, shared commitment - a patient, collective resolve.

• Advocate public interest place-making

• Build cross community capacity

• Explain implications of weak strategies and poor development decisions.

• Engender trust in ourselves, our profession and wider strategic processes

From ‘generalist planner’…

• Utility planner Flexible

• Rounded planner Multi-skilled

• Total planner Holistic, progressive

• Super planner Active, specialist-generalist

• Future planner Utopian, utilitarian, realist

1 long term view

The best way to predict the future

is to invent it.

Alan Kay, computer scientist

1 long term view

The best way to predict the future

planner is to invent it.

Kevin Murray, Not a computer scientist

Risks

• no adaption, evolution

• delay in investment/development

• workplace stress

• changing careers

• lose benefits of good planning

• things won’t join up

Benefits

• Develop skills, adaptability

• Enhance our performance

• Enable change/investment

• More joined up solutions

• Fewer losses from planning

• Communities will benefit

Kevin Murray

Chair

Capacity for Change

A planner of the future

THEMES