Planners and their organizations throughout the world provide leadership in addressing many societal issues. Often, challenges and successes cross geographic, national, and institutional borders. Best practices are often shared. Requests for assistance, too, occur through personal or institutional networks.

American Planning Association (APA)
The American Planning Association is a nonprofit public interest and research organization committed to urban, suburban, regional, and rural planning. APA and its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners, advance the art and science of planning to meet the needs of people and society. APA represents 43,500 practicing planners, officials, and citizens involved with urban and rural planning issues.
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Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP)
The Canadian Institute of Planners has been dedicated to the advancement of responsible planning throughout Canada since 1919. Working on behalf of planners and the planning profession, CIP serves as the national voice of Canada's planning community. More than half of the CIP's 6,000 members are government employees, mainly working for municipal/local planning offices. 
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Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP)
The Commonwealth Association of Planners is concerned with the planning and management of settlements and regions across the Commonwealth. Professional organizations of urban and regional planners across the Commonwealth are members. [More]

Planning Institute Australia (PIA)
The Planning Institute of Australia was founded in 1951 and is the only national organization representing qualified urban and regional planners and other related disciplines in Australia.
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Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)
The RTPI exists to advance the science and art of town planning for the benefit of the public. Town planning involves much more than planning towns, and is often referred to simply as "planning." Many planners, in both the public and private sectors, work within the planning system laid down by Parliament.
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The Royal Town Planning Institute has engaged with several partners to create a website about community planning, for a global audience. This website is a great starting point for anyone concerned with shaping their local environment.
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Future Conferences

PIA National Conference
Darwin, Northern Territory, AUSTRALIA
29 March – 1 April 2009
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APA National Planning Conference
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
25 - 29 April 2009
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NZPI Annual Conference
Rotorua, NEW ZEALAND
6 – 9 May 2009
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RTPI
London, UNITED KINGDOM
17 – 19 June 2009
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CIP National Conference
Niagara Falls, Ontario, CANADA
30 September – 3 October 2009
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APA Federal Policy and Program Briefing
Washington D.C., USA
1 – 6 October 2009

APA National Planning Conference
New Orleans, Lousiana, USA
10 - 14 April 2010

WUF V
Brazil
April  2010

Planning Africa 2010
Durban, SOUTH AFRICA
12 – 15 September 2010

GPN Congress
Montreal, Ontario, CANADA
2010

APA Federal Policy and Program Briefing
Washington, D.C., USA
24-29 September 2010

Contact Us

Global Planners Network Resources

GNP Congress Communique
The Global Planners Network Congress, held October 31-November 2, 2008, in Zhenjiang, China, highlighted critical planning issues of urbanization, poverty, and climate change and hazards. The Congress immediately preceded the United Nations World Urban Forum 4 in Nanjing, and this communique was one of the outcomes of the Congress. Also, read the Memorandum from the Closing Plenary of the Congress.

• Partnership in China: APA and U.S. Department of Commerce
• New Urbanization Trends in Punjab, Pakistan and Their Effect on the Lahore Metropolis
• Urban Regeneration of China's Historical District in a Transitional Economy
• Earthquake Disaster and Planning for School Safety
• Development for habitat and social impacts of urban sprawl in Upper Silesia metropolitan region, Poland
• Changing Places: A Character Building Exercise (Collingwood Village, Vancouver)
• Climate Change Crisis in North-East Ghana
• A Disappearing World: Historic Villages Beyond the Proximity to Metropolises

GPN Research
GPN has launched a tool designed to help planners around the world assess their capacity to respond to the challenges of urban growth. The Self-Diagnostic Tool to Assess Planning Capacity has been developed by the UK’s Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and Commonwealth Association of Planners. The outcomes of this project will be presented later this year to the UN Habitat World Urban Forum 4 in Nanjing, and the Global Planners Network Congress in Zhenjiang.
[Begin the self-assessment]

Planning and Climate Change
APA has undertaken a three-year program to research best practices on how to integrate energy conservation and strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into all stages of urban and regional planning in the U.S. Supported by grants from the Surdna Foundation, Gund Foundation, and its own Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy Division, APA has partnered with the Environment and Energy Study Institute (EESI) to advance the work.
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World Planners Congress
Vancouver Declaration 2006
"We, representatives of the planning profession of the world, dedicate ourselves to working together, and with others, to tackle the challenges of rapid urbanization, the urbanization of poverty and the hazards posed by climate change and natural disasters."
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[En Français]
世界规划师议会 温哥华宣言2006

Reinventing Planning: A New Governance Paradigm for Managing Human Settlements
This paper outlines key principles of a new paradigm for managing human settlements that we call New Urban Planning. The purpose of the paper is to provoke and focus debate during the lead-up to the World Planning Congress and the World Urban Forum III in June 2006. The paper reflects the outcome of a series of discussions amongst planners with experience from different countries.
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[En Français] 2007
世界规划师议会 温哥华宣言2006