APA Divisions Council Awards

Contribution to Planning Profession

PROJECT: Livable Communities for All Ages

AWARDEE: International Division

PURPOSE: Gauge awareness about techniques, tools, and best practices for planners to promote age-friendly planning in the U.S. and internationally.

IMPACT: Partnership with AARP, Arup, and Cornell University that gathered survey input from 567 planners from 33 countries on local governments and planners' motivations, actions, and barriers to incorporate Livable Communities for All Ages considerations into planning and the effectiveness of practices and strategies to engage planners in these approaches.

Overall Division Performance

AWARDEE: International Division

GOAL: Promote information, offer networking opportunities and professional development related to worldwide planning issues and build capacity of planners and allied organizations in developing countries or places facing climate change.

IMPACT: National and international thought leadership through three high-quality issues of Interplan newsletter; organization and moderation of a session on the UN Habitat Sustainable Development Goals; and presentations at the 9th World Urban Forum and UN-HABITAT meetings.

Education Excellence

PROJECT: Girls Who Plan

AWARDEE: Women and Planning Division

GOAL: Partner with YEP! (Youth Engagement Planning), a nonprofit organization focused on teaching young people in grades K-12 about urban planning and civic engagement, to inspire the next generation of women planners.

IMPACT: Inspired and educated 100 students through two youth engagement events and provided 10 division members the opportunity to teach and make meaningful change in the lives of young women.

Division Communications Excellence

PROJECT: Resilience Roundtable Podcast

AWARDEE: Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Planning Division

GOAL: Educate local planners and public officials on the meaning and importance of recovery from natural disasters, offer creative avenues toward problem solving and new insights into the challenges.

IMPACT: Thousands of listeners reached by three in-depth podcast episodes on recovery efforts for major disasters in 2017, including Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and the California wildfires.

Best Practice

PROJECT: Online Business Meeting

AWARDEE: Private Practice Division

GOAL: Use digital and webinar technology to increase division member engagement and provide an equitable opportunity for all of the division's 700-plus members to attend and participate in the annual business meeting.

IMPACT: Over 40 division members participated — more than double than the typical attendance of in-person meetings held at the annual National Planning Conference — including many members who had never attended an in-person meeting before.

Best Newsletter Article

TITLE: "Rethinking Resilience: Women's Organizing and Adaptive Capacities in Self-Built Neighborhoods" by Julia Duranti-Martinez

AWARDEE: International Division

SYNOPSIS: Highlighting personal experience with a case of community-led development in Los Platanitos, a self-built neighborhood of 2,000 residents in Santo Domingo Norte, Dominican Republic, the author factually demonstrates the human dimension of community resilience — the interpersonal relationships, mutual aid, and loving attachment between people and place that has the power to improve a community without disruption and displacement — and how, without taking this element into consideration, infrastructure improvement may backfire and be counterproductive.

Chair's Award

AWARDEE: Derek R. Hull, Chair (2017-present), Planning and the Black Community Division

ABOUT: Experienced urban planning, economic, and community development professional whose work to enhance the quality of life for individuals who are often underrepresented in the planning process spans the U.S.

IMPACT: Lead cosponsorship of a national symposium at Howard University called Broken Landscapes: Local Perspectives of Black Architects and Planners Since 1968, which drew 125 attendees. Co-organized a Day of Service in New Orleans's District B during NPC18, which gave 25 division, AmeriCorps, and mayoral staff members the opportunity to remove debris and connect with local residents and business owners.

Terry Holzheimer, FAICP Leadership Award

AWARDEE: Tim Van Epp, FAICP, Chair (2015-2018), International Division

ABOUT: Environmental planner with more than 40 years of experience in the U.S. and internationally; founder and managing director of Eurasia Environmental Associates, which provides environmental planning in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa.

IMPACT: Led International Division to receive two Divisions Council Annual Performance Awards (2016, 2018); elevated leadership and governance of the division, Divisions Council, and APA; championed membership, participation, and volunteerism among APA and division members.