Meeting on ‘The Experiences of Development Agencies on Regional Planning’
Discussions on the Regional Planning Experiences of Development Agencies in the Context of Education
Regional plans prepared by the Development agencies aims to understand the socio-economic development trends in diverse regions, to identify potentials and sectoral objectives for promoting regional development and, to define both the necessary infrastructure and activities and also their spatial distribution for achieving the defined objectives. While preparing these regional plans, both the quantitative techniques -addressing how to stimulate the regional resources to achieve development goals- and participatory processes, -facilitating the recognition of the region by the stakeholders, defining common goals and managing collaborations within and outside the region- are needed.
Although a considerable amount of experience has been cumulated for long years in regional planning field in Turkey, neither their content and nor their preparation processes have not been discussed or shared adequately. At this respect, it is critical to provide new solutions by taking into considerations the lessons learned and relevant implementation problems of previous experiences. Hence, for institutions of education of regional planning, it became almost a necessity to analyse accurately these new requirements for the implementation process and to cooperate with Development Agencies.
To enhance this cooperation, the meeting of “Discussions on the Regional Planning Experiences of Development Agencies in the Context of Education” is organised on 3rd of June, 2011with the collaboration of METU Urban and Regional Research Network and TEPAV.
The purpose of this meeting is to share and evaluate the experiences cumulated among the academicians as well as the staff and the managers of Development Agencies and to assess the future needs of regional planning education to improve planning processes. At the end of this meeting, an education programme would be proposed for the City and Regional Planning Departments in Turkey. In addition, a list of recommendation will be provided for the enhancement of in-service training of Development Agencies.