Planners Network holds an International conference once every one to five years. This is an opportunity for PN members to meet and learn from one another face-to-face. This is an archive of information about previous conferences since 1978.
For information on our upcoming conference, click here.
2019 Planners Network Multisite Conference: Migration and Displacement
Seeking to reduce the carbon footprint of the traditional conference, this year’s Planners Network conference took place over the course of two days in three locations, New York City, Tacoma, and Montreal.
In cities throughout the nation and world, people are facing powerful economic and political forces that lead to evictions from their homes and displacement from their communities. In response, people are organizing, resisting, and developing their own plans and policies as alternatives. Join Planners Network as we explore strategies and affirm that another world is possible!
For more information visit https://www.plannersnetwork.org/events/2019conference/
2014: Planning at the Borders – June 5th-7th Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
The 2014 Planners Network Conference, Planning at the Borders, took place from June 5-7 in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
In the 21st century, borders have expanded beyond defined international borderlines, and they have penetrated into cities –big and small–, into suburbs, into towns, and into rural areas all over the world.
While unrestrained globalization continues to homogenize some places, enclose and expropriate others, and produce new tensions and cleavages; people and communities are resisting. They are resisting and scaling walls, opposing displacement and segregation, diversifying landscapes, breaking the ceilings that prevent their mobility and their effective participation, establishing collaboratives, and reclaiming their health, histories, and voices.
For more information visit http://plannersnetwork2014.wordpress.com/
2013: Beyond Resilience: Actions for a Just Metropolis
June 6 – 8, 2013, New York City Metro Area
Please visit http://justmetropolis.org/ for more information and registration.
Cataclysmic events across North America and throughout the world such as Hurricane Sandy lay bare the ongoing crises in low-income communities: unemployment, foreclosures, homelessness, and service cutbacks. However, community-based organizations and activist networks are mobilizing, networking, and filling the gaps left by the failure of local and federal responses. This organizing continues beyond simple resilience, toward building a more just collective future. The conference includes:
- Thursday night screening of “My Brooklyn,” and a discussion with the filmmaker.
- A dialogue with community groups and residents at mobile community workshops.
- A Friday night celebration of justice and action at Pratt Brooklyn’s historic Higgins Hall.
- A full Saturday of diverse conference panels, interactive workshops, and plenaries.
- A Saturday evening performance by the dynamic Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.
Featured speakers include
John Davis, Burlington Associates; Mindy Fullilove, NY State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University; Rachel LaForest, Right to the City Alliance; Erminia Maricato, University of São Paolo; Peter Marcuse, Columbia University; Marla Nelson, University of New Orleans; Miguel Robles-Durán, Parsons/New School; Tony Schuman, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Aixa Torres, Smith Houses Resident Association; and dozens more!
Co-sponsored by Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility and Association of Community Design.
2011: Promoting Economic Development through Regional Cooperation, Planning, and Development
May 18 -21, 2011, The University of Memphis
Highlights:
- National Speakers on Progressive Strategies for Rebuilding Our Economy
- 18 Community-Based, Resident-Led Planning Charettes in TN, AK, and MS
- View and Meet the Producers of the Award-Winning “I Am A Man” – a film exploring the 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike and Join of Discussion of Contemporary Labor Rights
- Enjoy an Evening of Music, Dance, and Discussion on the Role of Culture in Economic Development at the STAX Museum of American Soul Music (Just Think: Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, Booker T and the MGs, Sam and Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, and Isaac Hayes)
- Tours of the National Civil Rights Museum, Kayaking on the Wolf River, Visits to SUN Music, and Graceland!
For More Info: www.memphis.edu/plannersnetwork/
2010: Actions for a Just Metropolis
June 16 – 20, San Francisco Bay Area
The information for the 2010 Conference, co-sponsored Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR), New Village Press, Planners Network (PN), Young Planners Network, Association for Community Design (ACD) and The Center for the Living City can be found at http://justmetropolis.org
2008: Planning in Challenging Climates
The 2008 Planners Network Conference: Planning in Challenging Climates was July 17-20 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- See the Call for Participation (783 KB)
- For more information see the Planners Network Manitoba web site: www.pnmb.ca
Older Conferences
- May 30-June 2, 2007, New Orleans, LA
Race, Class and Community Recovery: From the Neighborhood to the Nation and Beyond - June 8-11, 2006, Chicago, IL
Tending the Garden: From Grassroots to Green Roofs - June 2-5, 2005, Twin Cities, MN
Justice by Design: The Planners Network Design Conference - June 25-27, 2004, New York, NY
Walls or Bridges? Strategies for Rebuilding Communities - June 13-16, 2002, Holyoke, MA
New Visions for Historic Cities: Crossing Divides, Building Futures - June 21-24, 2001, Rochester, NY
Voices of Change: Lessons from Citizen Planners - June 22-25, 2000, Toronto, Canada
Insurgent Planning, Globalization and Local Democracy
Download: Conference Brochure - June 17-20, 1999, Lowell, MA
Working for a Decent Living: Bridging the Gap between Labor and Community
Download: Conference Brochure - June 26-29, 1997, Pomona, CA
Sharing Stories, Shaping Strategies, and Building Communities
Download: Conference Brochure - June 14-16, 1996, Brooklyn, NY
Renewing Hope, Restoring Vision: Progressive Planning in our Communities
Download: Conference Brochure - May 19-21, 1995, East St. Louis, IL
Creating a Progressive Urban Agenda: Linking Community Action and Equity Planning
Download: Conference Brochure - May 20-22, 1994, Washington, D.C.
For a Working America: A Planners Network Conference on Economic, Social and Environmental Justice
Download: Conference Brochure - Dec 12-14, 1986, Washington, D.C.
Housing and Economic Development: State Local and Grassroots Initiatives - May 8-10, 1981, Washington, D.C.
Planners Network National Conference, First PN Conference
“The first move toward making PN an organization came at the 1979 conference on progressive planning at Cornell University. The first PN conference was held in 1981 at the National 4-H Center outside Washington, DC. A formal statement of principles was adopted, several working groups were set up and a steering committee formed. In 1985 PN issued a ‘Call for Social Responsibility in the Planning and Building Professions’ that spoke out against nuclear weapons, cutbacks in social spending, the aggressive U.S. foreign policy, and for economic and racial justice at home.” - April 29, 1979, Ithaca, NY
Planning Theory and Practice: Economic Context, Emerging Coalitions and Progressive Planning Roles Sponsored by Cornell University - May 4-5, 1978, Blacksburg, VA
Conference on Planning Theory Sponsored by Virginia Tech