Accomplishments
2023 Accomplishments
Public Participation Guidelines
URAG initiated, and collaborated with Ro3kvit, to prepare a Public Participation Handbook for building back better in Ukraine and present the Handbook via webinars. The Handbook provides public participation good practices, discusses challenges to overcome, presents a process outline, identifies stakeholders, and provides a toolkit.
Environmental Sustainability Planning Guidelines
URAG has been awarded a $4,000 Research Grant from the APA Divisions Council to prepare environmental sustainability guidelines for urban and territorial planning in Ukraine. This effort identifies the pre-war environmental conditions and current war-related environmental impacts; provides background on what various the Ukraine government, foreign donors, and NGOs are doing relative to environmental planning at the urban and territorial levels in Ukraine; provides international best practices aligning with the UN SDGs and UN Habitat’s “International Guidelines: Urban and Territorial Planning”; and presents best international strategies, practices, and techniques.
Planning Education in Ukraine
URAG has initiated a joint effort with the Association of European Schools of Planning to reach out to Ukrainian universities that have degree programs or curricula related to planning to learn what their needs are and how Western planning schools may be able to help. These schools include those offering architecture, urban design, and public administration, in the absence of comprehensive planning programs addressing social, economic, and environmental concerns, at all geographic scales. A Ukrainian professor has surveyed these lines. In addition, URAG is in contact with several individual Ukrainian universities that are exploring or actively developing planning programs. Further, several URAG members are teaching or planning courses relative to planning for rebuilding Ukraine – University of Texas and Ohio State University, and/or serving as guest lecturers at such courses being offered at other schools – University of Pennsylvania.
Participation in Professional Conferences
URAG members organized and presented their work at the APA National Planning Conference in Philadelphia in April 2023, as well as participated virtually in the annual congress of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP).
2022 Accomplishments
San Diego 2022 National Planning Conference Session and Report
We organized and facilitated a very well-attended session on planning for Ukraine's rebuilding, then followed up by preparing a report on the session based on both the speaker's presentations and the audience’s oral and written comments.
White Paper on Pre-Planning for Post-War Reconstruction
We commented on a draft white paper providing humanitarian guidelines for both the rebuilding phase of the crisis response.
Communication and Collaboration with other Organizations
We have reached out and/or participated in the webinars/meetings of several relevant organizations, including the UNDP, World Bank, UN-Habitat (World Urban Forum 11), USAID, US State Department, Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), Affordable Housing Institute, Ro3kvit Urban Coalition for Ukraine, and Ukraine Ministry of Environmental Protection, as well as RTPI, CIP, and ULI. URAG meeting attendees have included representatives from UNDP, World Bank consultants, USAID, and SAME.
Mission Statement and Work Plan
We prepared a mission statement laying out a menu of services that URAG can provide in the coming months and years and assigned URAG members to each of the tasks.
SAME Conference Ukraine Rebuilding Session
Three URAG members attended this conference of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), made a presentation, and helped facilitate two related breakout sessions. SAME has since set up its own Ukraine rebuilding group. The two organizations have committed to coordinating going forward and are participating in each other’s meetings and initiatives. We have emphasized the importance and nature of the role of planners in pre-planning for post-war rebuilding in Ukraine.
URAG Membership in Ro3kvit
Several URAG members are also individual members of Ro3kvit and have been contributing to their capacity building, planning education, public participation, and city-specific planning initiatives.