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Last Friday night at the Planning Institute of Australia (Victorian Division) Annual Awards Ceremony the La Trobe University Community Planning and Development Program picked up two awards out of the nine that were given. The Awards for Planning Excellence Presentation Ceremony is one of the year's most prestigious events, where members of the Victorian planning community are recognised for their achievements and contributions to a diverse range of professional and technical fields. La Trobe won two awards, RMIT one and Melb Uni none.

Significantly, Plan B, the La Trobe University Student Planners Association won the award for their entry for Public Engagement and Community Planning. This was against competition from entries submitted by local governments and corporations. A student group has never won a category award like this before, an excellent achievement, considering the awards have been going for about 30 years.

Since 2010, Plan B has developed a strong 'outward facing' voice for young planners in promoting sustainable, healthy and equitable development in central Victoria. In organising and supporting students to be actively engaged in community planning issues, Plan B has supported a new generation of activist planners.

The Community Planning and Development Program won their second award in the category: Cutting Edge Research and Teaching for their entry 'Making the World our Campus' which is for the fieldwork and international study tour program.

La Trobe University's PIA-Accredited Planning Program at the Bendigo campus has developed the most extensive Australian and international fieldwork and study tour program of any university in Australia. It was described as follows: 'the extent of the offering is unparalleled and unprecedented in Australian planning education'.

Awards were based on comprehensive submissions that were lodged about two months ago. Winning entries will represent Victoria at the national awards which will be held in Canberra in March.

Further Information

Further information about the awards can be found on page 18 and 21 in the Planning Institute of Australia's, 2012 Victorian Planning Excellence Awards [PDF 2.9MB] report.

Further information about studying Planning at La Trobe can be found online. You can also find Planning on YouTube.