IFHP Urban Planning and Design Summer School in Finland
The IFHP Urban Planning and Design Summer School invites students to explore different approaches to urban planning and develop future scenarios in semi-realistic urban projects. The summer school engages participants in an international, multidisciplinary setting with a specific focus on the Nordic context of advanced sustainability agenda, interesting architectural design and current debates on urbanism in Finland and beyond.
Organised since 1994, the IFHP Urban Planning and Design Summer School in Finland is the oldest summer course in the field of urban planning and design. The event is co-organised by Tampere University, School of Architecture‘s Urban Planning Research Group, and Aalto University’s Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering Group, together with the city of Hämeenlinna and the International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP).
The 2022 edition
In 2022, the theme of the summer school is Rethinking Urban Change. Organised in 15–26 August, the course consists of high-quality lectures, excursions to Helsinki and Tampere, and intensive workshop period in the case city Hämeenlinna. The workshop includes hands-on collaboration with diverse actors, such as professional planners, urbanists, local stakeholders and activists.
The first two days of the course are spent in Helsinki. This part consists of lectures on Finnish architecture, planning and culture, as well of socialising and getting to know each other. There will also be a full-day presentation of the City of Helsinki, including a tour of historic sites and recent urban projects. This section of the programme provides inspiration for the design and planning task in the case city.
The core of the summer school is the active workshop period in Hämeenlinna. Working in small groups, the participants make their own analysis and design proposals that answer to real questions emerging from the given site and its context. The projects are developed in a semi-realistic manner, in interaction with planners and experts of planning education and research. The final projects are presented to decision-makers, general public and the media.
The working language of the course is English. The call for applications is open until 15 April 2022.