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News and Events
Planning to ActTM - a unique and innovative way of helping young people across Scotland to engage with the planning process has started.
‘Today I thought was amazing; the exercises were just great - this has been a great experience’ said a recent participant of Planning Aid for Scotland’s award-winning Planning to ActTM workshop in Ardrossan, North Ayrshire.
Planning Aid for Scotland, an independent charity established in 1993 to provide people across Scotland with information and support to engage in the planning system, worked in partnership with North Ayrshire Council and 30 young people aged 14-18 to take part in Planning to ActTM, a half-day workshop aimed to raise awareness of the planning system and their potential role within it. In the 4 ½ hour session, PAS volunteer planners and professional community artists worked together in a unique approach, providing an arts-based workshop within which the planning message was conveyed, helping participants to understand the bigger picture of planning, the role of the planner and what tools they might need if they were to become engaged with the planning system in their local community.
Within the workshop session, young people from all areas of North Ayrshire, representing local secondary schools as Youth Council members, worked together in the development of five exercises. The exercises took into account participants’ initial lack of awareness of the planning system, and recognition that many young people find such a system difficult or disinteresting to engage with, by focusing on a developmental learning approach, with each exercise building upon previous knowledge and participant awareness, whilst being fun, active and inclusive.
For example, participants were tasked with the creation of a physical theatre tableau of young people planning something. Through bringing the image to life, the participants were able to develop an understanding of key planning concepts, whilst improving their self-esteem and learning. The workshop further developed through a task to hold a meeting to strategise the opening of a new taxi company, with 3 elements to be agreed. Individually they were given obstructive objectives, which to all, proved highly entertaining. Participants agreed, one citing ‘I enjoyed this the most - it’s interesting to see how people’s views change and it gives an insight to how the planner has to balance all the different views and objectives’.
A successful day was summed up by one participant, ‘everyone was really interacting well together, really participating. It was a good way to get involved with the planner, it got everyone talking and really built up people’s communication skills’.
Planning System and Community Engagement
The planning system is going through both an exciting and challenging time, with the implementation of the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006 and its emphasis on community engagement, which aims to make the planning system more inclusive and accessible. PAS are committed to developing and delivering training tools which help support all to turn the sentiment of the Act into real benefits for our communities, something which we trust the Planning to ActTM workshop demonstrates and promotes.
As one workshop participant says, ‘it’s important for young people to be involved in planning because we’re the future generation and we’re the people who are going to be around for planning to have an effect on’.
DVD
In celebration of Planning Aid for Scotland’s successful partnership with North Ayrshire Council in the making of the Planning to ActTM DVD, the launch party was held in Irvine with contributions from Council Leader David O’Neill, Chief Executive Ian Snodgrass, and representatives from North Ayrshire Planning and Youth Service departments on what Planning to ActTM has meant to them and their future programme of engagement with young people in the North Ayrshire area.
The DVD is available to view on www.planningaidscotland.org.uk or call 0131 220 9730 for further information.
Contact:
Rachael Pateman
Development Officer
Planning Aid for Scotland
11a South Charlotte Street
Edinburgh
EH2 4AS
tel: 0131 220 9738
fax: 0131 220 9730
rachael@planningaid.org.uk
www.planningaidscotland.org.uk
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