This handbook explores two guiding questions - how can university-community partnerships in planning education work and how can they be transformative? University-community partnerships - often referred to as service-learning or community-engaged teaching and learning - are traditionally based on a collaborative relationship between an academic partner and a community-based partner, in which students from the academic partner work within the community on a project. Transformational approaches to university-community partnerships are approaches that develop and sustain mutually beneficial collaborations where knowledge is co-created and new ways of knowing and doing are discovered.
This edited volume examines a variety of university-community partnerships in planning education, from a number of different perspectives, with a focus on transformative models. The authors explore broader theoretical issues, including topics relating to pedagogy, planning theory, and curriculum; along with more practical topics relating to best practices, logistics, institutional support, outcome measures, and the various forms these partnerships can take - all through an array of case studies. The authors, which include academics, professional practitioners, academic practitioners, and students, bring an incredible depth and breadth of knowledge and experience from across the globe - Australia, Canada, Chile, Europe (including Germany, Spain, Slovakia, and Sweden), India, Jamaica, South Korea, and the United States.
About the Author: Megan E. Heim LaFrombois, PhD, AICP, is an Associate Professor in the Master of Community Planning program in the Department of Political Science at Auburn University, US. Her research focuses on community development, urban inequalities, participatory forms of planning, public policy, and feminist and qualitative methodologies. With over eight years of professional experience in community development and planning, an important aspect of her work, both as a practitioner and academic, is community engagement in addressing urban inequalities.
Jay Mittal, PhD, MBA, is an Associate Professor in the Master of Community Planning program at Auburn University, US. With over 24 years of professional experience in private consulting, research, and academic settings, Jay teaches graduate courses in urban planning, real estate development, and GIS. He has partnered with several local communities, public housing authorities, and economic development agencies in Alabama and Georgia, US, for collaborative community-engaged class projects. His research interests are university-community partnerships for local economic development, land value capture, land markets, real estate valuation, real estate market analysis, and plan-making in the US and India.
