AESOP Eprints
Institutional Repository of the Association of European Schools of Planning
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- Promoting Excellence in Planning Education and Research
- Congresses, Workshops, Meetings, Lectures and Summer School Events
- Safeguarding the development of AESOP’s Quality Recognition Programme
- Awards in Teaching, Best Published Paper, Best Congress Paper
- International, peer-reviewed, open-access journals
Recent Submissions
Proceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the south
(AESOP, 2016) Randolph, Rainer
We are publishing here the extended abstracts presented at the IV WPSC. Those which were discussed in the Track Sessions, as well as a considerable number of contributions in Plenary and Special Sessions and Roundtables. Farnak Miraftab´s Opening Keynote “Insurgency, planning and the prospect of a humane urbanism” was published (in portuguese) in ANPUR´s journal Revista Brasileira de Estudos Urbanos e Regionais (Brazilian Journal of Urban and Regional Studies), v.18, n. 3 (2016), p. 363-377 (http://rbeur.anpur.org.br/rbeur/article/view/5499).
It is our conviction that these texts reflect an important panorama of ideas, thoughts, experiences and practices of the nearly 600 researchers, scientists, students and practioneers who attended the congress in Rio de Janeiro with the aim to have an unique opportunity to discuss the matter of planning with colleagues from all over the world.
As it puts our colleague Carlos Balsas in the conclusions he wrote about his experiences by participating the discussions at the congress: “Attention was directed at the need to look forward to more planning not less, more planning research not less, and more educational opportunities to strengthen urban and regional planning. … Alternative paradigms based on the radical deconstruction of prevailing knowledge sets and philosophies by some of those living in southern and northern hemispheres are making positive strides and can be confidently further developed”
Book of abstracts : AESOP PhD workshop 1999, Finse, Depertment of Geography Univeristy of Bergen, Norway
(AESOP, 1999)
The AESOP PhD Workshop 1999 aims at constituting a small forum of discussion of PhDs in Planning Issues, bringing together a group of PhD students from AESOP member schools and a group of well known planning professors in an informal environment. The focus of the workshop is dedicated to the specificity of a PhD in planning. We are focusing on the role of paradigms in planning research, the role of theory and methodological approach, the relation between theory and empirical analysis in a PhD thesis. We will as well discuss the process in PhD work from idea to final thesis and whether there are identifiable trends in planning research. The workshop is structured into plenary lectures and group sessions. There will be five lectures by the invited teachers. There will be group sessions on Sunday and Monday at which the PhD students will present their papers, and group sessions on Tuesday at which there will be sought a structured discussion on the different theoretical and methodological aspects of the work with a PhD thesis.
Structure of the workshop
The workshop is structured in three types of sessions with specific, and different objectives: Plenary sessions of approximately 90 minutes length. There will be 5 such sessions - two on Sunday morning, two on Monday morning and one on Tuesday morning. In these sessions the invited professors and lecturers will present their lecture followed by a discussion. In these discussions all participants are urged to approach the themes of discussion in the light of their own training background, research and practice experience, as well as in the context of the planning school you come from. It is fundamental to keep track of the content of these plenary sessions in order to adress the topics in group sessions, after the PhD presentations.
Directory of Planning Schools (2001)
(AESOP, 2001) Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP); Hull, Angela; Ward, Helen
The Directory of Planning Schools (2001) is the third official edition published by the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP). It provides a detailed and structured overview of academic institutions engaged in urban and regional planning education and research across Europe and selected non-European countries.
The publication is divided into three main parts:
An introduction to AESOP’s mission, organizational structure, key activities (including congresses, PhD workshops, seminars, and working groups), and its legal status as a non-profit under Belgian law.
A country-by-country listing of member schools, each entry containing information on degree programs, teaching language, academic staff, student numbers, curriculum focus, research centers, and contact details.
An appendix listing prominent planning academics and their affiliations, including contact information.
This edition also includes the full text of the AESOP Charter, outlining the association’s legal foundation, membership structure, and governance mechanisms.
Designed as a reference and networking tool, the directory reflects the diversity and richness of planning education in Europe and supports collaboration and exchange among planning scholars, practitioners, and institutions.
From uncertainty to the ‘mega’ event: Four years of AESOP events
(Routledge : Taylor and Francis Group, 2024) Deffner, Alex
This article provides a concise retrospective of AESOP’s event evolution from 2020 to 2024, a period marked by global uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical crises. It traces the association’s transition from cancelled and online-only activities to a full return to in-person events, culminating in a large-scale congress in Paris in 2024. The piece highlights how AESOP adapted through hybrid formats, empowered Thematic Groups, and introduced a new Conference Management System. Through these transformations, AESOP not only maintained continuity in scholarly exchange but also strengthened its internal community and global outreach. The analysis underscores the resilience of academic networks and the potential of flexible event formats in sustaining professional engagement during disruptive times.
From Theory to Methodology and Back Again: The Need for Planning Researchers to Engage with Methodological Concerns
(AESOP, 1999) Campbell, Heather
Concerns associated with the development and implementation of the methodologies which underpin empirical investigations often seem to be treated as if they are of marginal significance to the research endeavour. For example, refereed journal articles seldom discuss the detailed decisions surrounding the conduct of a piece of research. This element is omitted in favour of concentration on the theory informing the research and the implications of the findings; yet it is the methodology which provides the link between the theory and the findings and consequently is instrumental in determining the validity and reliability of the conclusions. The result of this lack of discussion and engagement with methodological concerns has been the creation of something of an academic myth that carrying out a study is a relatively straight-forward and unproblematic undertaking. Experience suggests quite the reverse and that moreover if the quality of research is to develop and progress in the planning field there is much to be gained from open and honest discussion of the theoretical and practical issues associated with the methodological aspects of research. The purpose of this paper therefore is a plea for greater engagement with methodological concerns. In the context of this discussion it is assumed that methodology includes both the techniques used in the field to collect data and also the approach adopted to analyse and interpret the resulting material. The paper is divided into two parts, the first examines existing perspectives on research methods in planning while the second focuses on the seemingly poorly developed relationship between theory and methodology.