Spatial Planning in Action Field Class

ENVS467 is a compulsory module that forms a core feature of the fourth year of the MPlan programme and the postgraduate Master of Civic Design. It is also available on an optional basis for other Masters students in the Department of Geography and Planning. Each year the module entails a client based group plan making exercise which runs over the course of the second semester.  We work with a range of clients on the project such the Canal and River Trust, St Helens Council, Atlantic Gateway, Mersey Travel, the Morecambe Bay Partnership and the North West Development Agency. A residential field visit of between 4/5 days is key part of the module and its location and focus varies to fit the planning brief for the year.

There are two main models for the field visit. For projects where students have ready access to the study area, the trip will provide students with an opportunity to visit areas further afield which can provide inspiration and good practice examples of planning approaches relevant to their work. Trips may be to other parts of the UK such as London and Belfast or to parts of mainland Europe such as the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. Sometimes projects and trips connect with research being undertaken by staff. For example two recent projects have connected to our European Union funded PURE HUBS research which enabled students to visit partner organizations working on rural development schemes in the Netherlands and Belgium. A second model for the field visit is used where the project area is at some distance to Liverpool. Here the time away is used to enable students to undertaken survey work in their study areas and meet with local people. Field trip destinations for projects of this type have included Oswestry, Clitheroe and Arnside. An important part of these trips are meetings with local planning staff and stakeholders.