The New Jersey Sustainability Summit is an exceptional one-day forum, annually drawing more than 350 change-makers from across the political, private and public sectors. Participants will engage in thoughtful discussions, share best practices, hail the work that is currently being done in sustainability across the state, and identify areas for future regional collaboration. This year’s Summit will be bigger and better than ever to celebrate Sustainable Jersey’s 10th Anniversary!

AHPNJ is excited to once again be hosting a June Symposium for affordable housing professionals. Continuing education credits are pending with NJAPA, Rutgers, and NJ Supreme Court. Janel Winter, Director, DCA Division of Housing and Community Resources, will be the keynote speaker.

Movements of industry, service, and residents cause substantial change to our cities, towns, and suburbs. The visual impact of the changed physical environment often negates the social characteristics that once uniquely identified a neighborhood or place. Urban design is often used to generate and substantiate citizen buy-in – the promise of a better quality of life, and a higher tax base, But who is the beneficiary of good urban design? Our panelists will discuss how design impacts community development. They will explain how their role in community development leads, and will partner-with the development community to reduce the negative effects of change and gentrification.

Movements of industry, service, and residents cause substantial change to our cities, towns, and suburbs. The visual impact of the changed physical environment often negates the social characteristics that once uniquely identified a neighborhood or place. Urban design is often used to generate and substantiate citizen buy-in – the promise of a better quality of life, and a higher tax base, But who is the beneficiary of good urban design? Our panelists will discuss how design impacts community development. They will explain how their role in community development leads, and will partner-with the development community to reduce the negative effects of change and gentrification.

Floodplain management encompasses a number of systems and resources that share a common denominator – water. Floodwater, stormwater, wastewater, stream flow, groundwater, tides and waves are all interconnected in some way, especially in a small, densely developed, water-rich state like New Jersey. As we experience more frequent and intense storms and precipitation events, and as we continue to develop and redevelop our communities, understanding these interconnections becomes critical to protecting people and property, and maintaining various water systems and infrastructure in the most efficient, cost-effective manner.

The 2019 NJAFM annual conference provides an opportunity to bring people together from various sectors in order to promote multi-objective outcomes, by identifying common ground and overlaps in the respective work that we do. Looking at floodplain management from this perspective allows us to consider the full range of water-related impacts and to leverage our collective energy and resources to achieve common goals.

In this course, the PLANNING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE (PHCI) will lead an introductory training on health impact assessment as a tool to promote community health and equity in planning processes and decision- making. Participants engage in group exercises related to HIA steps, discuss opportunities and challenges to integrating health into planning and policy processes, and learn about new statewide collaborative initiatives and emerging tools to build capacity for health advancement in planning, and to support health in all policies.

The DNJ conference hosts over 100 downtown professionals, real estate experts, designers, developers, lawyers, public officials, and community organizers for this full day of education, networking, and celebration of achievement. 

Join more than 300 state and local decision-makers, practitioners and stakeholders to amplify the importance of addressing New Jersey's water infrastructure, explore innovative solutions and national models, and celebrate the Jersey Water Works collaborative and its members.

Many of our public processes require some form of community outreach and engagement, but do these efforts lead to meaningful community engagement? Yes, we can tick the box to say that we've held the requisite public hearing or placed the public advertisement, has the community been reached?

New Jersey Future’s annual Redevelopment Forum is our biggest event of the year, attracting more than 500 local and state officials, citizen activists, development professionals, architects, attorneys, planners, business leaders and students. Redevelopment allows us to re-use infrastructure, take advantage of historically strategic locations, maintain and improve our communities and preserve our remaining open spaces. It is clear that redevelopment, already at the heart of many of the opportunities available today, will play an even more vital role in the future.

NPC20 @ Home provides practical insights and education you can use right away. Join for what you'd like live and take advantage of the recordings as soon as the following day. AICP members will have the opportunity to earn over 20 CM credits, including law and ethics credits.

In this webinar we will explore how local planners incorporate sea level rise projections into different planning processes and documents. How does a local jurisdiction decide which sea level scenario to use? Then how has this been implemented into different planning documentation?

Attendees will hear from three leading practitioners in the emerging field of micromobility, each presenting a different angle on the changes that nimble, on-demand transportation options mean for street design and streetscapes, transit service, and travel patterns.

The program will run from 12:00 noon - 1:00 pm followed by an optional extended Q&A session from 1:00 - 1:30 pm. During this webinar, a panel of experts will explain key features of new stormwater rules that require the use of green infrastructure, and how to make green infrastructure work to your benefit using the newly updated Developers Green Infrastructure Guide 2.0.

How can community leaders continue to engage stakeholders and other members of the public in important local decisions when staying safe means staying home? The MSU National Charrette Institute and the Form-Based Codes Institute at Smart Growth America are partnering to deliver a series of webinars to provide local leaders, developers and advocates with tools and examples for staying in touch, sharing ideas, and getting interactive feedback to keep critical decisions moving forward. Many of these techniques, while essential in this time of separation, have the potential to engage new, hard-to-reach segments of the community, and will be useful, even beyond this current crisis.

Technology and changes being brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic are at the forefront of growing demand for new and emerging travel options in the NJTPA region. A convergence of both conventional and power-assisted bicycles and scooters, and other “mini-modes” are behind a radical rethinking of short distance and first-/last-mile access. While this micromobility revolution is attracting a variety of shared ride, commercial and personal users, many communities are looking for answers on how to incorporate them safely, equitably and sustainably through community policies, effective programs and roadway infrastructure. Join our panel of experts as we explore these issues.

How can community leaders continue to engage stakeholders and other members of the public in important local decisions when staying safe means staying home? The MSU National Charrette Institute and the Form-Based Codes Institute at Smart Growth America are partnering to deliver a series of webinars to provide local leaders, developers and advocates with tools and examples for staying in touch, sharing ideas, and getting interactive feedback to keep critical decisions moving forward. Many of these techniques, while essential in this time of separation, have the potential to engage new, hard-to-reach segments of the community, and will be useful, even beyond this current crisis.

Register Now This session, presented by APA New York Metro, will explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on planning, zoning and design.  The presenters will attempt to investigate what the “new normal” will look like and how the pandemic will impact future planning and zoning decisions in addition to changing the way we think […]

With phased reopening underway, planning and zoning departments are trying to accommodate new methods of operation in a COVID-19 world. Many planners are now armed with new tools authorized by executive order. But are these planning tools enough?

NSCW is the premier metropolitan workshop on identifying sustainable goals and strategies for revitalizing communities and brownfields. It has always evolved in response to new challenges and opportunities facing brownfields professionals and continually sets a new standard for the research and solutions that will shape the future of redevelopment and sustainability.

This session will be an interactive dialogue about ethical principles and guidelines that professional planners face. It will cover the AICP Code of Ethics and will apply the Code to ethics scenarios developed by the AICP Commission and drawing from the speaker’s experiences. The session will satisfy the AICP-CM ethics requirement.

This webinar will look at some of the ways that Covid-19 has and will change the world and profession of urban planning. This webinar is not intended as the end all, be all of the discussion, but a beginning. The speakers will share their experiences and thoughts on the subjects of transportation, public education and public engagement.

The session will provide participants with an introduction to the concept and principles of Corridor Urbanism, an application to the specific contexts of Fayetteville, and a methodology that they can use to apply Corridor Urbanism principles to their own community corridors.

This webinar will go over planning for emergencies and disasters, such as the COVID-19 outbreak, of this year, requires quick access to current data related to community resources and business, as well as identification of at-risk populations.

This webinar will impart best practices and lessons learned for our members, our profession, and our communities as we grapple with how to address the dual crises of a health pandemic and economic downturn due to COVID-19 through an equity lens.

Advancements in technology such as electric propulsion, autonomy and mobility as a service are redefining flight. Electric aircraft are flying today that are capable of adding a third dimension to transportation systems. But are cities and regions prepared for this new form of transportation?

Explore how planners engaged their communities and what tools they used to increase response rates and participation in Census taking, particularly during a pandemic.

This webinar will explain how county staff was able to document the history of the Peace Cross and prepare for legal proceedings at the Federal District, Appellate and US Supreme Court.​ ​Viewers will also learn important lessons if their municipalities experience similar challenges.

In this, the first of a two-part series, we will examine the practical and legal policies, procedures, and practices that guide communities in establishing and administering public art programs.

Join a discussion led by national retail consultant and Downtown specialist Mike Berne, President of New York City and San Francisco Bay Area-based MJB Consulting, about harnessing creative thinking, collaboration, and adaptability to encourage the timely emergence of new innovations and business models in response to changing realities and unforeseeable shocks.

This second presentation in a two-part series will begin post-installation. We will look at best practices and federal and state laws pertaining to the maintenance and conservation of public art works.

The session will cover how shared spaces and flush streets can help with big objectives such as making better places, increasing economic exchange, and simplifying maintenance. It will also cover achieving other objectives such as making it easier for pedestrians to avoid tripping hazards, parents to maneuver baby carriages, travelers pulling wheeled luggage, or to host special events within the public realm.

This online course focuses on the proper design, construction and maintenance of various green infrastructure stormwater BMPs, offering a number of actual constructed systems to support their feasibility and applicability in different development settings.

The Planner’s Tool Kit includes zoning ordinances, subdivision and land development ordinances, and a variety of other regulatory and non-regulatory approaches. With new and unique issues to address, even experienced planners struggle to identify which tool or combination of tools most effectively addresses the issues. Complicating the issue, enabling authority and preemption may rather arbitrarily limit the use of some tools. This session engages participants in a discussion of how to address unique issues most effectively while shielding the local government from liability.

Across the country, state governments incentivize development of green energy, often without consideration for local impacts. When companies seek to site wind turbines, solar panels and other green energy infrastructure, the authority of local governments and state governments often remains unclear. Attorneys from Mid-Atlantic states will discuss the legal issues impacting land use planners in the siting of green energy infrastructure, including the limits of local government authority.

Planners write thousands of staff reports every year in response to applications for rezonings, plan amendments, site plans, etc. The reports go to citizens, applicants, advisory boards, and governing bodies who make decisions impacting the very fabric of our communities, yet how often do we assess the report itself? Let alone think creatively about it? Hear the story of how the traditional staff report was turned avant-garde through fashion thinking and inspiration from works of art. Fashion designers create avant-garde pieces of clothing that may not be very wearable in hopes of rethinking ready-to-wear. Inspired by fashion and works of art, we created avant-garde staff reports seeking to break the usual mold for staff reports. We used style boards (images of actual staff reports compiled into a poster), mood boards (images compiled into a poster to create a certain ambiance, but also to boost fresh, lateral thinking), and prototypes of avant-garde staff reports to open our eyes to other ways of thinking. The avant-garde staff reports (videos, game board, newsletters, collage, mobile, and e-book) were tested with planning commissioners and planners in Georgia, California, Kansas, Missouri, Utah, Colorado, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and New York. This session includes the process and shares the results of the commissioners’ and planners’ assessments. Take-aways are creative (yet practical) improvements to staff reports and the value of “fashion thinking” to advance communication and collaboration. In addition to research results, the City of Topeka, Kansas’ Planning and Development Director will talk about taking his Planning Commission through the avant-garde process and how his staff is modernizing their staff reports.

With COVID-19, the rural divide just became bigger. The presence of adequate broadband impacts distance learning K-12 in Higher Education, economic development and many other aspects of land use planning. This session discusses how planners can impact broadband distribution through telecommunications ordinances, comprehensive plans and other local ordinances and policies. The discussion will include the uncertainties surrounding small cells and 5G technology.

The sixth annual Jersey Water Works Conference is a multi-day virtual event that will bring together more than 300 state and local decision-makers, practitioners and stakeholders to amplify the importance of addressing New Jersey’s water infrastructure, explore innovative solutions and celebrate the Jersey Water Works collaborative as an effective, comprehensive approach to achieving statewide impact.

This online program has been designed to help individuals better understand how economic activity – and the programmatic decisions it drives – may impact the health of the environment and society. The course will examine how and why natural resources are often undervalued or ignored completely by traditional accounting practices and economic data. It also will discuss why natural assets, such as clean air and water, tend to be abused precisely because they are the "common property" of society at large.

This second presentation in a two-part series will begin post-installation. We will look at best practices and federal and state laws pertaining to the maintenance and conservation of public art works. The presentation will focus on how communities and public art programs address issues of retaining, repairing, relocating, and removing public art. From current court cases challenging the application of the Visual Artists Rights Act to street art, to the heated debates raging over the removal of monuments, we will explore the hot topics challenging public art programs and making newspaper headlines. The presentation will last approximately one hour with at least 30 minutes for questions and answers.

The premiere downtown economic development event of the year, the annual New Jersey Downtown Conference hosts industry experts who provide insights into downtown management best practices, as well as development, business, and retail market trends.

Integrating qualitative practices into planning work also can help support more inclusive planmaking and account for important and persistent inequities present in quantitative data by surfacing the rich, unique, and varied lived experiences of marginalized communities, who in addition to being undercounted in quantitative data, are often excluded from formal decision-making structures and institutions. Ineffective collection and analysis of community feedback can lead to biased conclusions and alienate community members. Adopting a qualitative methodology in your project can help you address these risks, improve your work, and nurture stronger relationships with stakeholders. In this session, the speakers will present an overview of a qualitative methodology for planning and share tools for developing a coherent and practical methodology to collect, analyze, and incorporate qualitative data into your projects. This session’s speakers will draw on their extensive experience with community-based qualitative practices, as well as their diverse personal and professional backgrounds, to share how they approach working with a qualitative methodology in their own work and the impact it has on their projects. Attendees will leave this session understanding how to incorporate a qualitative methodology into their work and projects.

This two-part series will explore three situations of vulnerable communities adapting to and surviving the threats of climate change and urban development and present planning best practices. First, Sally Russell Cox with the State of Alaska will share her work with four communities and the reports she co-authored on a relocation framework and the unmet infrastructure needs of Alaska Native villages due to erosion, flooding, and permafrost thaw. Then, Pat Forbes with the State of Louisiana, will describe the Isle de Jean Charles project. This marsh island has lost 98% of its land due to sea level rise and coastal land loss, which is forcing the resettlement of the community that inhabited that land for generations. The speakers will demonstrate how citizen participation is critical to the relocation and cultural preservation and describe how interagency collaboration is critical to ensure housing affordability and infrastructure planning. This is the first of a two-part series looking at resilience in vulnerable communities. The second part will look at the Gullah-Geechee community and their resilience in the face of urban development encroachment.

The APA Housing and Community Development Division is excited to host a screening of Episode III in the documentary series, the Shame of Chicago - The Color Tax. Premiering last year at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, The Color Tax tells the story of how a system of predatory home contract sales during the 1950s and 60s plundered enormous sums of wealth from the pockets of black families seeking homeownership. But unlike what happened in other cities, Chicago’s families fought back in one of city’s most heart-wrenching and perilous campaigns for racial and economic justice. Reverend William Barber, co-director of the National Poor People’s Campaign, A National Call for Moral Revival writes, “The Color Tax paints with vivid clarity perhaps America's most striking example of systemic racism.” After the screening there will be a moderated discussion around fair housing, exclusionary housing policies and the impacts on minority communities nationwide.

Legacy business programs are also part of a movement to address the “diversity deficit” in the preservation field. Practitioners increasingly call for new ways to document and promote intangible culture (rather than merely architecture) and utilize new media to spread “living history;” foster inclusion and “social sustainability;" broaden the constituency for historic preservation; and ensure that vernacular and underrepresented heritage is not lost.

Join the APA Women & Planning Division for an informative panel discussion about the advantages & disadvantages of the AICP certification, how to apply for the exams, and some basic test tips for future test takers.

Learn how planners can use a free web-based application called Github, used widely in the tech industry, as a tool for knowledge sharing and collaboration. David Wasserman, Data Science Practice Lead at Alta Planning & Design, will provide some background information on the tool and how planners can use it as well as a short demo of APA Technology Division's new Github Repository and how you can get involved. Q&A will follow.

This session discusses architecture and urban planning through the centuries within the seven continents.

This year’s Summit will include one full week of virtual educational sessions, social “happy hours”, short expert talks, coaching sessions, and fun activities for municipalities and schools. Participants will have an opportunity to connect with energy and green product vendors, and municipal professional service providers (e.g. planners, attorneys, engineers) during our new Green Biz sessions.

This session is aimed at planners interested in leading grassroots volunteer efforts in small towns and rural areas. Without the population density or professional staff of urban areas, small communities are often dependent on creative grassroots solutions for providing basic necessities such as food systems, support for those aging in place, children's programs, jobs and energy conservation.

The global climate crisis is one of the most serious threats facing us today and action must be taken at every level of government. Local planners have a key role to play in helping to mitigate climate change impacts and to ensure our communities adapt to a changing climate.

Many cities lack adequate access to parks and trails. This equity gap has severe consequences for the health of our communities. Recognizing these inequities and developing plans and funding mechanisms to address them is critical to the future wellness and competitiveness of our cities. In addition to highlighting examples in other cities, this session will illustrate how planners in Columbus, Ohio, quantified unequitable access, set a goal of every resident to be within one half mile of a park or trail, and developed a targeted strategic land acquisition plan. Equitable access to parks and trails in our communities is critical to understand, document and address. Participants will learn about assessment methods to quantify equitable access and solutions to ensure that everyone has walkable access to parks and trails.

Many cities lack adequate access to parks and trails. This equity gap has severe consequences for the health of our communities. Recognizing these inequities and developing plans and funding mechanisms to address them is critical to the future wellness and competitiveness of our cities.

Street commerce has gained prominence in urban areas, where demographic shifts such as increasing numbers of single people and childless "empty nesters," along with technological innovations enabling greater flexibility of work locations and hours, have changed how people shop and dine out.

This webinar will continue and update the webinar with the same title from July of 2020. As the United States begins to emerge from the worst impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the panelists, experts in transportation, public participation and land use; will discuss how the profession of urban planning has profoundly changed in the last 18 months.

The Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission (SCC&HC) welcomes you to join them for a discussion about cultural innovation. Communities that cultivate arts, cultural heritage, and history reap broad benefits – from civic empowerment to economic development to improved health and well-being. The best cultural initiatives are collaborative, interdisciplinary, and community-driven; using creative placemaking principles to integrate arts, heritage, and history with the built and natural environment to encourage broad and diverse participation. This panel discussion includes experts from the arts, heritage, tourism, and film sectors who will provide insight into cultivating a comprehensive strategy to advance cultural and heritage initiatives.

Increasing affordable housing production has been a challenge for decades. There are challenges to production, funding, locations and legislatively. Homelessness rates in recent years and planners need innovative ways to provide transitional and permanent supportive housing.

This panel will highlight the critical work that is being done by planners who work for the US military. They will share their experiences and highlight how the lessons they learned in planning school apply to their current jobs. They will also discuss opportunities for planners in the US military in particular.

This session will introduce the YEP! methodology; highlight projects; and provide tips and best practices for engaging young people in the planning process as well as going into the classroom and teaching youth about urban planning. Discover best examples to develop youth's civic leadership and recruit youth into our profession — as well as steps to establish your own local program.

The pandemic exposed inequities baked into the economic system. Planners must rethink basic assumptions about bouncing back to pre-COVID economy. This panel explores the application of new approaches: a new roadmap, targeted social impact investments and small-scale manufacturing that invest in place in an inclusive way to empower systemic transformation.

Many rural and suburban communities with natural assets—and robust internet service—have become attractive places for telecommuters to locate full time. Hear from communities that are weighing the benefits and pitfalls of the "zoom town" phenomenon, working to collect data about it, and seeking to understand potential long-term implications of working from home. Planners can help communities prepare by developing a deeper understanding of the influencing factors and how different approaches to accommodating them have impacts on both the physical environment and people's daily lives. This session also focuses on identifying key considerations for making decisions about policies and programs that address this phenomenon. It's especially important for planners to consider how benefits can be distributed equitably across segments of the population. How can the economic advantages of zoom towns benefit all community members?

Join your APA colleagues for an introductory session to learn more about this timely issue for our communities. Panelists and discussions will consider impacts on infrastructure and social vulnerability as well as the role planners can play in improving outcomes.

The idea of the 15-minute city is a concept that is here to stay because it is an elegant summation of what has always been the fundamental goal of a transportation and land-use system for creating environmentally, and socially, sustainable places. It also contains the seeds for the revitalization and restoration of thousands of older cities and towns in America. But what does the 15-minute city look like? To illustrate the concept, Dr. Garrick will use the case of Zürich, Switzerland which has slowly over the last 50 years recreated itself as one of the world’s preeminent 15-minute cities.

This free virtual summit, sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Department of Environment Protection, is an opportunity to highlight the creation of robust trail and greenway networks throughout the state and to celebrate exemplary projects as an increasingly important piece of New Jersey's transportation and recreation network.

Join your APA colleagues for an intermediate + level session to learn more about this timely issue for our communities. Panelists and discussions will consider impacts on infrastructure and social vulnerability as well as the role planners can play in improving outcomes.

The Policy and Advocacy Conference brings you the opportunity to meet with elected officials, gain critical insights, and conduct in-depth conversations with meaningful results. You can be a part of the wave of progress and raise your voice for the policies and programs your community needs most.

This session will focus on the health benefits of active transportation (walking and bicycling). In addition to providing relevant health data and statistics, Mr. Jackman will discuss regional and statewide efforts such as WalkWise Tampa Bay, Safe Routes to Schools, and Healthy Communities. Join us and learn about the importance of active transportation, as well as available resources that can help to transform your community and/or your lifestyle.

Dr. Doan will deliver the presentation virtually via zoom. The presentation may be accessed remotely or in a group setting in Discovery Hall, Room 201. An in person reception will be held at 5:00 p.m. in Discovery Hall, 2nd Floor Atrium.

his session will explore public education, outreach, policy development, and technical advances in RUC through the eyes of the two states that have conducted the country’s largest per-capita RUC pilots: Washington and Hawaii. Since 2012, Washington has studied the business case for RUC, examined various operational approaches to implementing RUC, pilot tested five promising methods of mileage reporting, and conducted extensive stakeholder and public outreach.

Each fall, the New Jersey Association for Floodplain Management (NJAFM) conducts an annual conference that attracts over 500 people for a 3-day conference that showcases state-of-the-art techniques, programs, resources, materials and equipment, and services to accomplish flood mitigation and other community goals.

This session shares frameworks that can serve as a tool for public- and private-sector actors to shape a vision of an intentional planning decision-making ecosystem that ensures equity is centered in public investments in: access - transit and local mobility; community health from an all age lens and a rural-urban lens; financing cross-generational services and needs across the life cycle; and 2Gen strategies to break the cycle of poverty and replace with opportunity.

Cycling is a sustainable means of urban travel. It has the potential to serve many short- and medium-distance trips—for commuting to and from work and school, shopping, and visiting friends—as well as providing recreation and exercise. This presentation explores how to make city cycling safe, practical, and convenient for a broad spectrum of ages, genders, and abilities.

As municipalities throughout the country have adapted to the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, elected and appointed officials have been faced with tough decisions and unique opportunities to create programs that best meet the needs of residents. The actions adopted in trying times have changed the way local government works and will leave an impact on operations for years to come. From distance work and health department strain to philanthropic efforts and emotional support for those struggling, the new normal of local government will be discussed in sessions and with exhibitors in the exhibit hall. With the 106th League Conference, we will continue a long tradition within the safest and most effective parameters.

Planners' work is done in service to the public, and often their work becomes part of the public domain. Does that mean planners can copy and paste from publicly available work done by others? When does copying and pasting become unprofessional and even unethical? Where to draw that line is difficult to determine. Get guidance from the AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and from the ways in which academia views plagiarism.

The Transportation Planning Division (TPD) presents a session that will demonstrate the variation in, and breadth of the impact of, innovation in transportation.

This event, hosted by the NJTOD.org, Downtown New Jersey, and NJ TRANSIT’s Transit Friendly Planning (TFP) program, will bring together a panel of experts from public, private, and non-profit entities to discuss their experiences with available financing tools and how they are used in transit-oriented development.

For decades, regional planning promoted growth and development increasingly further away from employment centers. This has resulted in urban sprawl, displacement and gentrification, and the infringement on natural and working lands at the rural-urban interface. This “set it and forget it” approach to planning is not sustainable economically or environmentally. This is particularly true in megaregions like Northern California. This webinar explores how cities and counties adjacent to major employment centers like San Francisco and Silicon Valley have plans for retrofitting these communities to accommodate much needed housing growth and mobility expansion in a way that is equitable and sustainable, both environmentally and economically. Panelists will describe the challenges that metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) face, as well as specific opportunities and programs they are working on to make positive changes that will continue decades into the future.

NJ TRANSIT and the Transit Friendly Planning Program are excited to launch the new "Transit Friendly Planning: A Guide for New Jersey Communities". During this launch event, the authors will provide an overview of the content contained in the guide during a 1-hour presentation and Q&A session. The second hour of the event will provide attendees an opportunity to chat with NJT staff and local and state agencies about current or future transit friendly planning projects in their communities.

The Responding to Climate Change webinar will include three presentations on the topics of green infrastructure, hazard mitigation planning, and wildfire hazard mitigation strategies.

The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness along with the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management will be sponsoring several deliveries of a two-day training course titled, Coastal Hazard and Vulnerability Assessment Tools (PER-378). The National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC) at the University of Hawaii, a member of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC), will be instructing the DHS approved training course. There is no-cost to attend this course.

What do planners need to know about climate science? From rising seas to evolving weather patterns that include more frequent storms, heat and fire events, there is much to understand about the intersection of climate and planning. This webinar will provide a concise overview of changing climate conditions and their impact on current planning practice.

The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness along with the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management will be sponsoring several deliveries of a two-day training course titled, Coastal Hazard and Vulnerability Assessment Tools (PER-378). The National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC) at the University of Hawaii, a member of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC), will be instructing the DHS approved training course. There is no-cost to attend this course.

On November 3, 2020, New Jersey voters approved New Jersey Public Question 1, an amendment to the State constitution to legalize the recreational use of cannabis by people ages 21 and older, with 67% voting yes and 33% voting no. In 2021, 70% of municipalities voted to opt out of allowing cannabis in their city or town. Yet, most of these municipalities are expected to opt in in the near future. Why?

What are planners doing around the country to incorporate climate considerations into their practice of planning? This course will take a deep dive into the intersection of climate science and planning, with emphasis on applying effective planning tools and techniques to the challenge of changing climate conditions. Caroline Cunningham AICP CFM, Principal with Stantec, and Katrina Kelly-Pitou PhD, Systems Design Strategist with SmithGroup, will instruct participants on the best practices in this field around the country while touching on key concepts in the science of climate, measurable impacts of climate on communities today, and best forecasts for how climate will affect the form and livability of communities in the future.

In his talk, Julian Agyeman, Ph.D., professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University, will outline the concept of just sustainabilities as a response to the "equity deficit" of much sustainability thinking and practice. He will explore his contention that who can belong in our cities will ultimately determine what our cities can become. He will illustrate his ideas with examples from urban planning and design, food justice and the "Minneapolis Paradox."

This webcast features planning stories where cities have worked to make their backend (permitting, plan review) and frontend (comprehensive plans, maps) more accessible, engaging, and transparent through digitalization.

Join us for a webcast hosted by the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association and the Municipal Design Review Network (MDRN), where attendees will learn how design review is handled in communities to further improve the quality of the built environment and public realm. Hear about examples from experts in the field on effective ways to direct the quality and character of development in suburban and urban communities.

As communities continue to navigate the effects of the pandemic, NPC22 is an opportunity to reconnect and re-envision post-pandemic futures. No matter your budget, comfort with gathering, or learning preferences, NPC22 has an experience for everyone.

The New Jersey History and Historic Preservation conference is the annual state-wide educational and networking opportunity for history and historic preservation professionals and volunteers in the fields of architecture, planning, heritage site and museum management, public history, archaeology, municipal preservation commissions, county heritage offices, developers, students, and more!

New Jersey Future and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association are pleased to partner for the second year and present the 2022 New Jersey Planning and Redevelopment Conference! Join hundreds of visionary professionals, elected officials, and community activists as we restart, recover, and reimagine land use.

The New Jersey Sustainability Summit is a momentous event in our state, annually drawing more than 600 change-makers from across the political, private, and public sectors. This exceptional one-day forum spotlights the successes and lessons learned from the people and projects that are helping New Jersey realize a more sustainable future. Our last live Summit's record breaking crowd ended the day with tangible resources and strategies to assist with their own community initiatives. This is your opportunity to do the same. We invite all who are interested to be ready to deepen their understanding and expand their network.

Community Heart & Soul is a resident-driven process that engages the entire population of a town in identifying what they love most about their community, what future they want for it, and how to achieve it. Developed and field-tested over a decade in partnership with over 100 small cities and towns across America, Community Heart & Soul is a proven process for engaging a community in shaping its future. Learn from three professional planners about the Community Heart & Soul model of planning, community development and community engagement and learn how it has enhanced Comprehensive Plans across the US including in Maine, Washington, Colorado and Pennsylvania.

Zoning codes, adopted by thousands of local governments across the country, dictate much of what can be built in the United States. While each zoning code can be written slightly differently, they are commonly slight iterations on a similar theme. Planners are quite familiar with the direct and indirect impacts of zoning codes and development regulations can have on housing availability, transportation, education, the food supply, economic opportunity, and access to nature.

This webinar will introduce the topic of drafting planning rules as computer code from international case studies. Despite being on the radar of the PropTech sector, planners themselves are currently unprepared for the wide-reaching changes this technology poses for plan drafting and development review. Planners however have an important role to play to ensure that coded rules match intended planning outcomes and that transparency and human accountability is maintained in the implementation of any automated assessment processes.

“The plan wasn’t implemented.” This is an all-too-common lament about comprehensive plans. It is a proverbial tale familiar even to those who are not planners. A plan sits on the shelf and collects dust. There are different things planners can do to create plans that are practical and lead to results. This webcast will discuss the “implementable comprehensive plan” approach, affirmative principles and steps communities can employ to create plans elected officials and citizens embrace and partners join in help implement. The webcast will highlight case studies and lessons learned as the “implementable comprehensive plan” has grown as a movement in Pennsylvania. The webcast will discuss five keys for an implementable plan. The keys include specific suggestions for a plan’s content, organization, process steps, and participants. The webinar will take a closer look at how the five keys have been applied in recent comprehensive plans to better involve elected officials and the public, undertake problem-solving work sessions, design workable action plans, and create capacity to implement the plan. The webinar will challenge planners. Are they driven by helping a community achieve its aspirations and address its problems and needs or by the exercise of writing a book? Do they focus on the real issues a community is facing or a perceived statutory template? Webcast presenters Denny Puko and Jim Pashek are pioneers of the implementable plan approach. Ideas they will present come from their new book Off the Shelf and Into Action, How to Create an Implementable Comprehensive Plan.

Roundabouts are becoming more common in American communities as a powerful tool for moving traffic while enhancing walkability for people of all ages, especially when designed well. Dan Burden of Blue Zones LLC, one of America’s leading walkability experts, is featured as this month speaker in APA’s Urban Design & Preservation Division webinar series to examine the most essential design features of roundabouts, as well as how to design and operate them for walking, bicycling, driving, and freight movement, illustrating what works best and why.

The Policy and Advocacy Conference will present an opportunity to ensure last year's landmark investments in planning deliver on the promise for a more equitable, resilient future. This is your opportunity to network with fellow planners across the country, participate in professional development sessions, and hear from top decision-makers to advance legislation that is important to you.

This session is geared toward planning consultants at all levels, but can also be useful for planners with communities or agencies that use planning consultants. First will be a presentation on topics brought up by our members during our monthly PPD meetings. Then we will have a facilitated discussion to respond to questions, inviting attendees to weigh in on their experience.

This webinar will describe different approaches and use cases for public charging infrastructure, the kinds of considerations communities need to take in land use planning, and the emerging best practices in land use regulation for EV-charging.

The past three years have shone a light on the strengths and shortcomings of planning and zoning through events like the 2020 protests for social justice, the pandemic, environmental crises, and the housing crisis. There is an increasing appreciation for walkable environments, and how they can improve health, the environment, mobility, and connectivity. Our firm, which focuses on zoning codes, has been critically examining the services we provide, and how we can both meet modern challenges and also try to acknowledge and repair past harms. As professionals, we are trying to do better. In this episode, we’ll talk about how we can critically examine zoning codes to center equity, resiliency, and walkability in our land use policy.

Did you know that local sign ordinances can advance or deter the idea of social equity in your community? For example, in Brooklyn, NY, "Old School" large lettering and repetition generates a sense of inclusivity and openness, while brevity, wordplay and other linguistic elements of gentrifying "New School" signage signal exclusion. The authors of What the Signs Say will analyze two critically different types of local retail signage to help planners and local officials examine how sign regulations may contribute to inequity and exclusions. This session will incorporate ethnographic observation, interviews and storefront texts from Brooklyn, New York, to discover signage models and methods that ensure equity, diversity and inclusion.

This session will educate participants on the causes of urban flooding, how urban flooding differs from river and coastal flooding, and how climate change is driving more frequent and dangerous urban flooding disasters. Participants will gain knowledge of how the decisions we make as planners can exacerbate the problem or help to improve outcomes.

Whether you're attending for education, networking, or taking in the latest products and services, the event's benefits extend beyond Conference week. Boost your professional development and get the tools to build stronger communities.

The premiere downtown economic development event of the year, the annual New Jersey Downtown Conference hosts industry experts who provide insights into downtown management best practices, as well as development, business and retail market trends.

At-risk communities are disproportionately impacted both by increased flooding and the policy and market responses to flooding conditions. In this context, what is “social equity” and how is it related to climate resilience for all? How can planners ensure an equitable response to flooding?

As climate conditions change, understanding what data and tools are available to inform planning decisions is critical. This webinar features a climate data & technology vendor panel to introduce urban planners to data and tools to help communities reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and respond to climate impacts.

The Watershed Conference is an opportunity for learning, brainstorming, discussing, and planning solutions to the problems faced by New Jersey’s watersheds. We will focus on the updates to the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit, regional solutions to address polluted stormwater runoff and flooding, environmental justice, and the need for community-wide action. Learn alongside municipal representatives, engineers, environmental professionals, watershed advocates, business leaders, and community members through roundtable discussions, hands-on sessions, and networking.

The 2019 report The Promise of Urban Agriculture: a National Study of Commercial Farming in Urban Areas found that planners play a pivotal role in the success or struggle for thriving urban and peri-urban farms, but planners have a mixed understanding of the needs and potential for urban agriculture. As a follow-up to that study, the presenters have paired up with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to educate planners on how urban agriculture can be integrated into their other concerns. This webinar will present an overview of the 2019 report and present the first of six modules in a forthcoming professional development course for planners about urban agriculture.

The Watershed Conference is an opportunity for learning, brainstorming, discussing, and planning solutions to the problems faced by New Jersey’s watersheds. We will focus on the updates to the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit, regional solutions to address polluted stormwater runoff and flooding, environmental justice, and the need for community-wide action. Learn alongside municipal representatives, engineers, environmental professionals, watershed advocates, business leaders, and community members through roundtable discussions, hands-on sessions, and networking.

From stolen land to rematriation, all land ownership and control is rooted in its value to it based on markets that serve the few, not the many. What does it take to decommodify land? Is it possible? Can land and power be redistributed for collective benefit? This talk will take us on a journey through history to examine land ownershipin the United States and the reverberating impacts experienced in the 21st century.

Assuming we are past the worst of the COVID-19, what happens to our downtowns? Before the pandemic, people were rediscovering the traditional New England town center. You can stop in a few different shops, maybe pick something up for dinner at a local fish market or bakery, and enjoy the building and people. Once COVID hit, people were reluctant to leave their houses, let along go downtown. Some experts, citing research that suggests people like working remotely and don’t want to return to work in an office, suggest that downtowns may be dead. Other suggest that the natural open air character of downtowns means they are well-positioned to adjust to a post-COVID world. This webinar will present the findings of a multi-year research project on this topic.

This webinar aims to link the importance of the planning process with the financing options needed for implementation. The webinar will provide an overview of planning processes by two Federal Agencies (HUD and DOT) with examples of creative financing tools offered by government to help communities develop large-scale, front-end investments in climate resilient infrastructure. Representatives from the federal agencies (HUD, DOT) will provide an overview of an example of financing resources that enable large-scale climate resilient infrastructure projects.

In this seminar Michael Herbert, an attorney at Parker McCay, and Christine Cofone, a consulting planner for municipalities throughout New Jersey, will expand on Michael's November 2022 article in NJ Municipalities Magazine, "As Fourth Round of Affordable Housing Obligations Nears, Municipalities Should Plan Accordingly." The panelists will offer a tips about how to get prepared now and share information on how this round will be different from past rounds.

Register for the northeast’s largest building industry tradeshow, the Atlantic Builders Convention (ABC), March 28-30, at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, NJ. ABC attracts a diverse audience of building industry professionals including developers, remodelers, consultants and more. Connect with thousands of your peers, take advantage of a dozen seminars offering continuing education credits and attend some of the year’s most exciting networking and awards programs.

NPC23 is your ticket to connection with your professional community. Join your peers in Philadelphia or online and tap into an inspiring network that will help you analyze, imagine, and plan for the future.

What will monuments of the future look like? What stories belong in public spaces? What is the role of planners, designers, historians, and artists in this conversation? The Urban Design & Preservation Division and the Arts & Planning Division are partnering to have a conversation about what planners can do beyond monument removal.

Get an overview of what is being taught in today’s planning schools. Accredited planning schools must meet certain standards. In general, accreditation recognizes educational institutions and professional programs for performance, integrity and quality. For planning programs, the accrediting body is the Planning Accreditation Board. PAB recently updated their requirements to keep pace with the profession and push it forward. PAB accredits 78 master's and 16 bachelor's programs at 80 North American universities.

Each year, the RPA Assembly convenes over a thousand policy experts, public officials and business leaders committed to addressing climate change, promoting inclusive growth, and developing transportation systems.

The New Jersey Sustainability Summit is a momentous event in our state, drawing change-makers from across the political, private, and public sectors. This exceptional one-day forum spotlights the successes and lessons learned from the people and projects that are helping New Jersey realize a more sustainable future. 2022 Summit attendees walked away with tangible resources and strategies to assist with their own community initiatives. This is your opportunity to do the same. We invite all who are interested to be ready to deepen their understanding and expand their network.

oin preservation professionals from across the country to hear why preservation should matter to the urban planning community. These innovative leaders will share how preserving historic assets, adaptive reuse, and incorporating public engagement are effective planning tools for more holistic work. Hear how creative application of preservation policies and programs can address issues such as climate change, affordable housing and density, and equity of under-represented and underserved communities.

How can energy providers work collaboratively with local communities to provide resources and coordinate on planning to accelerate progress in clean energy, equity and resilience? This webinar will feature two initiatives from different regions of the U.S. that involve innovative collaboration between energy providers, local government and community stakeholders to achieve enhanced sustainability and resilience-related outcomes.

This webinar will focus on the ways in which the affordable housing landscape has changed in New Jersey post pandemic. We will look at tax credit, development, lending and municipal roles and how those roles have changed. What are the challanges? What has improved? There have been significant changes in construction costs, interest rates, and municipal affordable housing status in the past few years, so it will be helpful to get the varying perspectives on what different practitioners are seeing.

Communities starting their ‘Race To Zero’ with social equity will need innovative solutions for achieving the triple-bottom-line. This talk will showcase LEED for Cities and Communities rating system framework and highlight a few examples from more than 360 global communities with ambitious, impactful, and actionable roadmaps, implementation, and management strategies. This program is catalyzing energy, emissions, water, waste, transportation, social equity, and quality of life innovation and continuous improvement with credible frameworks for effective decisions.

CGS will present Pinal County prototype demonstrating a successful regional collaboration, which can be attributed to a unique private public partnership, aligning water delivery data with accurate built environment information, and modernizing water data systems (increase access to and reliability of water data), helping answer key questions about current and future growth.

This webinar will highlight new planning methods that OAPA CAPP teams have undertaken in partnership with the counties’ leadership, disaster recovery coordinators, and public health and planning professionals. The panel will share lessons learned - the good and the unsuccessful - in trying to serve displaced survivors who have a historic distrust of systems, the structural challenges with meeting the needs of often-overlooked community members, and glimmers of hope for a resilient and equitable recovery.

Systems are all connected - from the built infrastructure to the communities and places that serve as context. A movement is underway to green the whole picture, as exampled by taking renewables from being a niche sector to being strategic part of the whole picture. New Federal funding is leading with new potentially game changing investments. How do we ramp up spending on climate change and embed climate ready tech to scale to transform the effects of climate and center equity? Who are the actors and tools that can make a difference and are meeting the challenge? What are the inflection points and how can planners help lead that innovation? These are questions that will be tackled in this session. Learn to facilitate a stronger and more equitable innovation ecosystem and unlock the full potential of climate solutions to drive the massive transformation needed to build resilience to climate change.

Leveraging research and practitioner perspectives, this presentation will discuss the interdependent relationship between freight movements and land use in metropolitan areas. The presenters will share their experiences researching and planning for freight movements with a focus on food supply chains.

In water-scarce regions, the lack of availability of water supply often constrains the ability of communities to approve new residential and commercial development. A building moratorium has sometimes been declared in California communities and elsewhere. The City of Phoenix is now undergoing an evaluation of how new development can proceed in the face of Colorado River Basin shortages. But a solution is at hand.

The premiere downtown economic development event of the year, the annual New Jersey Downtown Conference hosts industry experts who provide insights into downtown management best practices, as well as development, business and retail market trends.

From due process to the First Amendment, planning and land use cases present interesting issues for lawyers and planners alike. Join attorneys from Ancel Glink, P.C. in Chicago for a discussion of the most recent and interesting updates in planning law, including riparian rights, affordable housing, short-term rentals, and adult uses.

For World Planning Day, this dialogue will unpack the phrase “best and highest use” by exploring the Knickerbocker Protestant origins of US planning. Stemming from Dutch and British colonialist practices and ideas of possessing and managing all land and all othered beings, we’ll discuss how this eco-history is linked to our current global “boiling” crisis.

In this session, the Planning Healthy Communities Initiative (PHCI) will lead an introductory training on Health in All Policies, focusing on how to bring community health and equity into planning processes and decision-making, emerging tools to build capacity for health advancement in planning, and how to support health in all policies. In addition to presentations, participants will engage in group exercises, discuss opportunities and challenges to integrating health into planning and policy processes, and learn about new statewide collaborative initiatives.

This session will summarize the state of affordable housing, explain opportunities within the IRA to preserve and improve affordable housing, describe how to achieve climate resilience for an aging population, and provide tips to foster and strengthen collaboration that can advance more climate-resilient communities.

Join us for an engaging and informative webinar with APA’s Technology Division in partnership with the Seattle's Chapter of Women in Data, a non-profit organization focused on increasing diversity in the data field. Together, we will explore the transformative potential of data-driven urban planning and advancing technological best practices. This dynamic session will cover how we can humanize data, effective ways to communicate the use and risk of data and technology, how to build a data team, and case studies from the field. Key themes will include data responsibility, opening up the “black box” of the data and technology fields, and best practices in how data visualization impacts representation.

How should planning and zoning issues be considered for the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging? This session will discuss planning, zoning, and permitting for EV charging — the challenges and lessons learned. National building code organizations have dedicated considerable attention to developing model codes to provide local officials with the guidance needed to address health and safety concerns of the installation and operation of the charging equipment.

The Home Ignition Zone (HIZ) model has been promoted internally, but professionals in planning, construction, and development are still unaware of their roles in creating fire resistant structures and communities. In this webinar you'll be introduced to the Home Ignition Zone as well as the Community Ignition Zone and what roles you can play in creating wildfire ready communities.

There is a tremendous amount of change happening in urban landscapes, especially in the western U.S. Driven by climate change more broadly, and its symptoms of water scarcity, stormwater flooding, and heat, these changes present both challenges and opportunities for planners. The conversion of our cities will not be easy, or quick. To do this right, we must address this as systems-change, with robust attention to both the social and physical details. To address this challenge, the recent Lincoln Institute/Babbitt Center White Paper “ Research-Informed Documents of Practice: Helping Urban Planners and Water Managers Direct the Change Needed for Creating Climate-Adapted Urban Landscapes”, researched 3 different sources of information to gather a snapshot of current activities, stated goals, and future directions to make this transformation happen. This webinar will cover what was learned.

Register today for our 7th Annual Watershed Conference. This year's theme is regional/watershed planning, a collaborative strategy to address the impacts of climate change and restore clean and healthy habitats. To address complex issues, we must work together to manage watersheds in a way best suited to their natural geography beyond political boundaries.

Over the past decade, the growth in frequency, scale, and severity of wildfires have highlighted the seriousness of an emerging global problem, particularly in an area known as the wildland-urban interface (WUI). These impacts are expected to worsen with ongoing development in wildfire-prone areas and extreme weather conditions from climate change. FEMA’s Building Science Disaster Support Program recently deployed a team of subject matter experts to Colorado after the devastating Marshall Fire and identified a need for more collaboration between the fields of planning and building science to increase wildfire resilience. This session will inform planners about wildfire mitigation concepts at the parcel, neighborhood and community levels and the interrelationships between these scales. Speakers will draw on lessons learned and best practice examples that emphasize how planning, zoning and building codes a

Trails are part of a resilient transportation infrastructure system and can be planned and designed to be resilient and sustainable, as well as play a role in emergency planning and response. Trails of all kinds are places for recreation, exercise, and active transportation. They are also a crucial tool for making communities more resilient in the face of climate change and other emergencies. Multi-use trails can help reduce carbon emissions by shifting more trips to walking, biking, and rolling. Urban, suburban, and rural trail corridors present opportunities for managing stormwater, improving water quality, providing wildlife habitat, and inhibiting the spread of fires, among other benefits. However, trails can also be particularly vulnerable to climate impacts. This session will examine the ways in which planners can work towards making trail infrastructure more resilient to environmental shocks and stresses as well as towards allowing trails to strengthen the resilience of the surrounding community. Presenters from Trust for Public Land and Toole Design Group will provide information and guidance in support of these goals, based on recent programs and experience.

The Census Bureau has valuable data that are helpful for community planning, analyzing, reporting, grant-writing, etc. In this Webinar, you will learn about popular Census Bureau surveys and the type of information you can access from them. You will receive a brief tour of the Census Bureau’s website and live demonstrations of popular data retrieval tools to help you find data quickly and build a customized data query. Topics include the various geographical levels of how data can be accessed, where and how to find data regarding your community such as population, demographic makeup, economic, and housing, and the various data view/download options, to include data tables, Excel spreadsheets, and mapping features.

NPC24 is a prestigious event that brings together thousands of experts, thought leaders, and professionals in the field of planning. This year's national APA conference will focus on crucial topics that impact our communities and the planning profession as a whole.

The New Jersey Sustainability Summit is a momentous event in our state, drawing change-makers from across the political, private, and public sectors. This exceptional one-day forum spotlights the successes and lessons learned from the people and projects that are helping New Jersey realize a more sustainable future.

When carefully planned with their surroundings, new sports facilities offer the opportunity to revitalize communities, promote economic development, and create great places. Learn lessons from renowned urban designer and architect Janet Marie Smith, who was instrumental in designing the pioneering Orioles Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, the renovation of Fenway Park in Boston, and the recent modernization of Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles.

One of the barriers we face today for addressing sustainable water strategies is that we failed to emphasize these issues within our primary, secondary and higher educational programs. We have now reached a point where the actions needed to make our water systems sustainable will deeply involve everyone, not just technical policy experts, and the general public and even our current generation of land and water planners are ill prepared for this challenge. Fortunately, the issues of water sustainability are not just short term but will be generational. We still have time to incorporate these issues into our public and professional educational programs. For the last decade Arizona State University has been developing web-based tools to help educate the next generation of water and land planners and the general public about water sustainability. This webinar will explore three online tools, WaterSim, Arizona Water Chatbot, and Arizona Blueprint. Attendees will have an opportunity to use each of the tools and how they can be used to inform a wide range of audiences on these issues.

Automating software workflows enables planners to conduct analysis to inform decision making accurately and efficiently, opening up more time to engage with results. In this webcast, planners will be introduced to the capabilities of ArcGIS Pro's Model Builder, with a focus on its components and advanced features like iterators and model-specific functions. The session will provide practical tips for creating efficient, modular workflows alongside guidance on developing parameterized tools from models, and considering aspects like workspaces and documentation. Additionally, we'll discuss the limitations of Model Builder in handling highly complex workflows. This session is tailored for planners looking to integrate GIS automation into their work, offering practical insights for effective application to common planning tasks.

“Not in My Back Yard” is often rooted in fear of loss of quality of life, property values, environmental degradation, health effects, or distrust in technology, government, and management. Other triggers can be ideology or impacts on symbolic places. NIMBY-ism is not simply a U.S. phenomenon, it happens everywhere. Research from around the world reveals useful techniques for anticipating NIMBY arguments, improving systems to avoid triggers, and recognition of the importance of cultures where “we are in this together” versus “everyone for themselves”.

Mpact Transit + Community’s Regional Day program focuses on the once in a lifetime opportunity to reimagine regional rail for Greater Philadelphia and the Tri-State Area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, including service operated by SEPTA, NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak. To seize the opportunities along these corridors, municipalities and counties need to plan, rezone and incentivize transit-oriented development and multimodal infrastructure around their stations.

Nico Larco, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Oregon, will present the Sustainable Urban Design Framework, a new, comprehensive approach to sustainable urban design built from current research and best practices from across the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, planning, development, ecology, and environmental engineering.

In collaboration with ViewPro, enCodePlus, and ZoneCo, you'll learn how GIS and other advanced tools elevate the field of zoning by enhancing policy application, improving transparency, promoting community engagement and making it more efficient, transparent, and accessible to all stakeholders.

While the laws, regulations, and structure of banking greatly influence land use, urban planning and housing, banking itself is poorly understood—even by many who work in banking. Looking around today, it may seem like big banks have always lorded over the economy, but in reality, it was community banks that did the bulk of the work to finance the expansion of infrastructure, homes, small businesses and industries that built the cities and rural economies that make up our country today.

This webinar will explore case studies of municipalities large and small from around the U.S. that are moving forward with programs to address long-term maintenance of green infrastructure on public property. Successes and lessons learned will be shared. Please join us for this robust discussion on a timely and important issue facing municipal planners and water managers today!

From due process to the First Amendment, planning and land use cases present interesting issues for lawyers and planners alike. Join attorneys from Ancel Glink, P.C. in Chicago for a discussion of the most recent and interesting updates in planning law.

Staff reports continue to be the most common and best way for planners to communicate community legal standards and goals to elected and appointed officials, colleagues, applicants, and citizens. However, these documents often fall flat or are unread or, quite frankly, left unloved sitting on the sidelines. It is time for planners to get in the game. It is time to reclaim the power of the staff report, the power of teaching, communicating, listening, and showcasing planners’ expertise and their love of their communities.

This session will delve into Southern Nevada’s success of crucial conservation strategies and aimed at addressing the drought and ensuring sustainable water management practices in the region. The session will discuss Nevada’s innovative approaches and explore the challenges, opportunities, and potential impact of these solutions on long-term water sustainability in the Silver State and American West as a whole through conservation, pricing, regulation, and education.

Please join us for the fourth annual SCD Symposium (virtual), this year we are focusing on planner’s role in
reducing carbon emissions and helping our communities adapt to a future climate. This year’s symposium will feature a keynote by Brian Ross, Vice President, Renewable Energy and Interim Vice President, Communities at the Great Plains Institute, a panel focusing on carbon reduction strategies and a panel on climate adaptation strategies for planners.

Join the APA Foresight team for the launch of the 2025 Trend Report for Planners and an engaging exploration of the emerging trends and signals shaping the year ahead. Discover the insights planners need to tackle uncertainties and create thriving, resilient communities.

The State of Michigan recognizes that a robust childcare system is an economic development issue. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation recently published a Child Care Readiness Toolkit which guides municipalities to better integrate child care into planning efforts, zoning codes, economic development strategies, and local policies and procedures, to become more child care ready.

This session will introduce planners to the fundamentals of AI, the ethical implications of using AI in local government, and how to assess whether their county and its municipalities are ready to adopt AI. Topics will include the principles we aspire to uphold and specific rules of conduct, particularly as they relate to the adoption and use of technology. Our goal is to reinforce how these principles guide ethical planning and technology use across staff, government, and our communities.

The Watershed Conference offers sessions that will increase knowledge and skills, encourage discussions between stakeholders, and foster collaboration on specific issues and potential solutions.

Healthy food walk audits provide a dynamic way to assess the food landscape in neighborhoods, evaluating availability, proximity, routes, and infrastructure needs. In this workshop, participants will learn how to use walk audits to gather data on the built environment’s influence on healthy food access, including identifying gaps in food availability, barriers in transportation routes, infrastructure challenges, and opportunities for growing and value-added production.

NPC25 is your opportunity to connect with fellow students and professionals who share your passion for planning and community development. We've rounded up thousands of experts, thought leaders, and professionals, all coming together in the lively city of Denver.

The Somerset County Bar Association (“SCBA”) is presenting its 4th Annual Land Use Symposium and Basic Course in Land Use Law and Planning on April 26, 2025 at Raritan Valley Community College.