As Vice President Young Planning Professionals of ISOCARP I would like to invite Young Planning Professionals from all over the world to actively participate in the 51st ISOCARP Congress that will take place in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, 19-23 October 2015. The theme is “Cities Save the World – Let’s Reinvent Planning”.

In 2015, we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of ISOCARP, founded in the Netherlands in 1965. In the 51st congress we want to explore how different approaches to planning and the experience of different generations can progress our joint aim – improving cities – for all generations and by all generations. Therefore we are looking for 36 Young Planning Professionals to play an adventurous and dynamic role in our congress.

The congress will start on 19 and 20 October with two-day local workshops in the 12 host cities of Groningen, Amsterdam, Delft, Wageningen, Schiphol, Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Deventer, Maastricht, Dortmund and Brussels.

All delegates will then travel to Rotterdam on Wednesday 21 October where the plenary part of the congress will take place on 21 and 22 October.

In order to get to know each other and build relationships with the other selected Young Planning Professionals and to get introduced to the themes of the workshops and the congress, you are invited to join the arranged meet-ups in Eindhoven in May and September 2015. To join via Skype is of course also possible.

All selected Young Planning Professionals will meet 17 and 18 October in Eindhoven, prior to the start of the workshops in the 12 host cities.

ISOCARP wants to link young professionals via the ISOCARP2015 network and give them room to get involved. For each of the 12 local workshops ISOCARP will establish a Creative Engine of 3 Young Planning Professionals. Each Creative Engine will comprise of 3 promising young designers and planners: one Dutch, one Belgian or German and one international planning professional. This team will work closely with the 2 local and international workshop rapporteurs who review submitted abstracts and papers and prepare reports with conclusions and lessons learned.

Tasks

We are looking for as many as 36 Young Planning Professionals, 3 for each host city. Each team of 3 Young Planning Professionals will fuel one of the workshops, in addition to other key roles reserved for young professionals in the congress.

In short the required tasks are:

1. To actively contribute to the interactive congress platform: isocarp2015.org.
2. To participate in the pre-congress events and meet-ups (possible via Skype).
3. To participate in one of the 12 workshops in the host cities 19-20 October.
4. To contribute to a joint statement of the 36 young planning professionals to be published on the ISOCARP website after the conference.
5. To contribute to an action book with the results of the entire congress.
6. The intention to the publication and presentation of a paper in your workshop of choice is an advantage in the selection process.

Information
Information about the 51st ISOCARP Congress can be found on our website 2015.isocarp.org

Funding

The Dutch Creative Industries Fund provided a grant for the participation of 12 Dutch and 6 International Young Planning Professionals. The Marc Jacobs Foundation and the Peter Ross Memorial Fund will sponsor two, respectively one YPP. The request for funding of the other three International Young Planning Professionals and 12 Belgium/German ones will be provided by other sponsors and European partners. Reimbursements will be paid after completing the task according to the rules and regulations provided to the selected candidates. The Local Organising Committee will be in charge of arranging hotels, meals and local transportation for the entire duration of the workshop within the dates as mentioned in the calendar.

Calendar

More information about the meet-ups in May, September and October in Eindhoven will be communicated in due course.

Application

Pitch
You are asked to formulate a pitch. Every pitch consists of two elements:

• The first is a maximum 250 words motivation that explains why you are the top candidate for the chosen workshop theme. What is you idea, your opinion, your experience about that theme?
• The second is your concrete proposal that fuels the discussion and makes it real. This can be in video, text, drawing, collage or another creative way of expression of your choice with a concrete proposal, idea, vision, dream or comment within the theme of the workshop that you have chosen to support your motivation.

All pitches will be published on the conference website and – no matter if you are selected or not – form an important input to the discussions to take place in the workshops and in the conference itself.

Eligibility
The call is open to graduated Professionals ≤ 35 years from any discipline but with an interest and expertise in improving cities.

Criteria
The selection of those who will be invited is based on transparent criteria that will be published on the platform. The content of the applications will be judged based on the following criteria:

1. Proven interest in the field related to their preferred workshop theme.
2. Ability to make this kind of rather abstract theme tangible and concrete.
3. Potential to ‘shake-up’ and communicate with the planning profession.

For each criterion there is a maximum of 10 points to gain, which mean that each candidate can earn a maximum of 30 points in total.

Selection
The selection committee will select the applications based on the above criteria.

The selection committee will also propose the composition of the creative engines for the 12 workshops, which will each consist of 1 Dutch, 1 Belgian or German and 1 foreign candidate.

The selection committee will consist of independent members chaired by ISOCARP Vice President Young Planning Professionals, Piotr Lorens. The selection committee reserves the right to conduct interviews (skype or in person) with potential candidates.

Selected Candidates will be informed of their selection, after which they will have to confirm their availability and participation to ISOCARP Head Office. Participation documents will be sent to them shortly afterwards. Travel procedures (incl. visa if applicable) will start immediately after the selection process is completed.

How to pitch
We expect from you:

1. A motivation of maximum 250 words that makes clear why you are candidate for your chosen workshop theme
   ApplicationForm2015
2. A concrete proposal within the chosen workshop theme that fuels the discussion. This can be in video, text or drawing.
3. Curriculum Vitae – CV_template.

All applications should be sent to kurth@isocarp.org.

Questions
Any questions during these procedures should be sent to the ISOCARP Head Office, email address kurth@isocarp.org; isocarp@isocarp.org; Tel: +(31-70) 346-2654, Fax: +(31-70) 361-7909.

We are looking forward to receiving your pitches!

Piotr Lorens
Vice President Young Planning Professionals

CALL IN PDF

Peter Ross Memorial Fund
The Peter Ross Memorial Fund founded by Coralie Kelly in the name of our late member Peter Ross provides a financial grant to enable a graduate woman from Africa or the Middle East to participate as Young Planning Professional.
Application details: same as above.