Planning Institute Australia Awards: Nominate Now!

Deadline: 24-Aug-21

Nominations are invited for Annual Planning Institute Australia Awards for Planning Excellence demonstrate leading practice, leadership and achievement in planning and the planning profession. The Awards recognise excellence and showcase leading practice across a range of planning disciplines and sectors. Leadership in planning, particularly in the face of adversity, is acknowledged and applauded.

In all, the Awards are a chance to celebrate, recognise and reward outstanding planning and planners.

As a national program the Awards commenced at the state and territory level seeking out the best of planning in each jurisdiction.

Following judgement and recognition at a local awards ceremony, the winners of the appropriate categories in the state and territory Awards are elevated to the national stage.

The best on offer from each state and territory are judged at a national level, culminating in the National Awards for Planning Excellence ceremony which acknowledges the best of planning and planners that Australia has to offer.

Categories

There are two types of Awards Categories:

General Categories – offered at a State/Territory level, with award winners (excluding commendation winners) being elevated to the National Awards for Planning Excellence.
State Only Categories – offered only at State/Territory level, with the winners NOT being elevated to the National Awards for Planning Excellence.
- Great Place: This award recognises a great place, street or neighbourhood. Great places have a true sense of place, cultural and historical interest, community involvement and a vision for tomorrow.
- Strategic Planning Project: This award recognises an outstanding strategic planning project, which includes regional plans, structure plans, master plans, infrastructure plans, planning schemes and similar.
- Improving Planning Processes: This award recognises a significant improvement in planning process or major planning reform which leads to good planning outcomes undertaken by a planner, planning authorities (local or state/territory) and development entities.
- Young Planner of the Year: This award recognises a Young Planner who has made an outstanding contribution or achieved something significant. The award recognises a Young Planner who represents balanced qualities in advocating for emerging planning professionals as well as high quality planning outcomes in the workplace.
- Climate Change & Resilience: This award recognises projects and initiatives that provide outstanding leadership and/or innovation that makes a positive impact on addressing climate change and can be held up as case study of best practice for the planning profession.
- Community Wellbeing & Diversity: This award recognises initiatives that achieve outstanding social sustainability outcomes. The award will focus on planning for communities – in other words, planning
  for people. It will recognise initiatives that support the health, wellbeing and diversity of
  
  the community and enhance planning projects and social outcomes.
- Stakeholder Engagement: This award recognises initiatives and outcomes in implementing best practice public engagement that achieves genuine collaborative outcomes that leads to improved built form, planning processes or social outcomes.
- Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Planning: This award recognises projects and/or initiatives which promote recognition, understanding, appreciation, awareness and celebrates Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander knowledge, culture and tradition and their application to planning and land management.
- Technology & Digital Innovation: This award recognises the importance of technology and digital innovation in 21st
  century planning. Digital opportunities and adapting technology to assist planning in our changing environment is critical.
- Planning Research: This award recognises an outstanding achievement in planning research.
  Tertiary Student Project: This award recognises outstanding planning work by an individual or group of tertiary students. It is awarded for a substantial project, report, book, thesis, article or piece of research which makes a significant contribution to planning and development outcomes.
- Planning Champion: This award recognises non-planners (a person, group or business organisation) for their advocacy or for making a significant contribution and lasting presence to the urban and regional environment over the last 1-2 years.
- Performance and Innovation in Development: This award recognises outstanding innovation in a development approval or the development assessment process.
- Secondary Student Project: This Award recognises outstanding planning work by a secondary student.
- Wendy Chadwick Encouragement Award: This award seeks to promote examples of innovative, practical planning which
  
  illustrates great promise in achieving the vision of planning excellence in Queensland
- The Exceptional Planning Achievement Award (Overall Award):

In addition to satisfying the specific criteria required for each category, the judging panel seeks nominations that demonstrate:

Principles that could be applied nationally;
Community benefit, particularly a positive impact in as wide a cross – section of the community as possible;
Originality or uniqueness;
Resourcefulness, innovation and creativity;
A high level of professionalism;
A high level of technical competence / accuracy;
A high level of relevant / appropriate research;
Detailed methodology;
Good quality documentation and attractive presentation;
User friendliness, i.e. is it able to be easily read and understood;
A realistic implementation program – possibly including a budget, and staging details;
Sustainability and the achievement of improved environmental quality; and
Leading Practice.

Eligibility Criteria

Great Place:
- Nominations may be made by a member of the public or an individual or organisation engaged in planning practice.
- Nominated places should be operational / functioning for at least 12 months prior to nominating for this Award.
Strategic Planning Project:
- Nominations may be made by a member of the public or an individual or organisation engaged in planning practice.
Improving Planning Processes:
- Nominations may be made by a member of the public or an individual or organisation engaged in planning practice.
Young Planner of the Year:
- Nominees may be nominated by an employer, colleague or peer (“nominator”) by way of a single page submission addressing why the nominee should be considered for the award.
To be eligible for Young Planner of the Year, the nominee must be:
- a current Associate or Full Member of the Planning Institute of Australia who is within their fifth anniversary of graduation from the first education qualifications that entitled them to become eligible to be a Member; and
- have been a member for a minimum of 6 months at the time of being nominated.
Climate Change & Resilience:
- Nominations may be made by a member of the public or an individual or organisation engaged in planning practice.
Community Wellbeing & Diversity:
- Nominations may be made by a member of the public or an individual or organisation engaged in planning practice.
Stakeholder Engagement:
- Nominations may be made by a member of the public or an individual or organisation engaged in planning practice.
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Planning:
- Nominations may be made by a member of the public or an individual or organisation engaged in planning practice. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples or communities or organisations should lead or be a core part of the team leading a plan, project or policy.
Technology & Digital Innovation:
- Nominations may be made by a member of the public or an individual or organisation engaged in planning practice.
Planning Research:
- Nominations may be made by a member of the public or an individual or organisation engaged in planning practice.
Tertiary Student Project:
- Nominations may be made by an individual or group of tertiary students engaged in a planning related project. They may be self-nominated or nominated by a university, employer or PIA member.
Planning Champion
- Nominations may be made by a member of the public or an individual or organisation engaged in planning practice.
Performance and Innovation in Development
- Nominations may be made by a member of the public, developer or an individual or organisation engaged in planning practice.
Wendy Chadwick Encouragement Award
- Nominations for the award are drawn from the recommendations made by the judging panels of the other categories; and
  - The award is open only to non-winning nominations in other categories.
  - To clarify eligibility, this category is not open to direct nomination.
The Exceptional Planning Achievement Award (Overall Award)
- Nominations for this category are put forward from the State Award winners from other categories. You cannot directly nominate into this category.