Building International Bridges - Learning from Abroad

Saturday, April 1, 2023

2:30 PM – 3:15 PM CDT

Location: 119A

CM | .75

Division Endorsement: International Division

Speaker(s)

Timothy D. Van Epp, FAICP

Past Chair
APA International Division
Westfield, New Jersey
Bruce Stiftel, FAICP

Professor Emeritus of City and Regional Planning
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia
Irayda M. Ruiz Bode, FAICP

Principal
Ruiz Bode Consultores/ GFA Consulting Group GmbH
Guatemala, Guatemala, Guatemala
Mai Nguyen

Representative to Vietnam
APA - International Division

Moderator and Speaker(s)

Jing Zhang, AICP

Chair
APA International Division
Morgantown, West Virginia

American planners face many challenges - climate change, sustainability, housing, movility (not a typo), migrations, and aging communities. So do planners in other countries. With caution about different contexts, we can learn from, and be inspired by, each other. This presentation focuses on the APA International Division’s efforts to build bridges connecting the world and facilitate collaboration, capacity building, and knowledge exchange.

Presenters discuss the Division’s partnership with the MIT SPURS Humphrey Fellowship program, Federación Iberoamericana de Urbanistas, and planning entities in Ukraine, Japan, Vietnam, and the Maldives. They also cover UN-Habitat initiatives and the Global Planning Education Association Network.

Learn lessons from past international partnerships and consider how to make international collaborations really work to achieve the best outcome for local communities and human beings.

NPC Peer Reviewers assigned this presentation a learning level of Intermediate. For more on learning-level descriptions, visit our General Information Page.

Learning Objectives:

Consider primary collaboration strategies to address global urban-development issues including climate change, migration, mobility, sustainability, and housing.
Gain perspectives on lessons learned from previous international partnerships in urban development.
Identify ways to participate in, and learn from, planning practice on the international stage.