Hosted by the ARL and organised by Dr. Martina Schorn (Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research) and Dr. Lena Greinke (Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover) the ARL Lunch Talk “Planning the Future for Youth in Europe’s Shrinking Areas” took place on Thursday, 19.3.2026, 13:00-14:00h.
On 6 and 7 May 2026, the international symposium “Land use challenges in European Metropolitan Regions – exchanging promising spatial planning approaches” will take place in Berlin.
Are you a young professional or student interested in shaping the future of spatial planning in the Baltic Sea Region? The VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School 2026 offers a unique opportunity to engage with key challenges such as climate change adaptation, resilience, mobility, and sustainable land and sea use.
The updated ARL Country Profile of Luxembourg, authored by Tom Becker and Prof. Markus Hesse, provides an overview of the country’s spatial planning and territorial development system. It outlines Luxembourg’s multilevel governance, municipal networks, and strategic planning framework, while highlighting the role of European integration, cross-border cooperation, and sustainable development challenges in a small, highly internationalized state.
On 13 March 2026, the members of the ARL International Working Group "Resilient Metropolitan Regions – Spatial Planning and Management for Urban Transformation" met online for a plenary meeting.
The Förderkreis für Raum- und Umweltforschung (FRU) invites submissions for the FRU Sponsorship Award 2026, focusing on European Cohesion Policy in times of multiple transformations.
Deadline for abstracts extended to 15 March 2026! We invite scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to submit abstracts for the ARL Congress 2026, taking place on 1–2 October 2026 in Cologne (Maternushaus).
Poland’s spatial planning system has recently undergone significant reforms, particularly affecting municipal planning and land-use decisions. The ARL Country Profile of Poland offers a concise overview of the planning system, recent reforms, multilevel governance, and key challenges such as regional disparities, urban–rural divides, and demographic change.
The ARL at the Final Conference of the Planners’ Forum Project in Tallinn
The final conference of the Planners’ Forum project, held on 11–12 February 2026 in Tallinn, marked both the conclusion of the project phase and the official launch of the Land-based Planners’ Forum.
The Lunch Talk aims to bring together scholars from different fields of expertise and to reflect on both, the perspectives of shrinking areas and those of young people.
This hands-on training course covers the fundamentals of ecological connectivity and biodiversity in the Alpine region. It is designed for experts, planners, and other relevant groups.
The Hannover Section of the Research Institute Social Cohesion (www.fgz-risc.de/en) invites you to participate in the conference “Exploring Local Social Cohesion in Green and Just Transitions”.
Regional expansion of onshore wind power under RED III
Striking a balance between biodiversity protection and accelerated growth targets
Date: 14 April 2026, 11:30 am to 02:00 pm Venue: On the premises of the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the EU, Rue Belliard 60-62, 1040 Brussels
The updated ARL Country Profile of Bulgaria, authored by Ivaylo Stamenkov, provides a comprehensive overview of the country’s spatial planning and territorial development system, outlining its legal foundations, institutional architecture and multilevel governance arrangements.
We invite scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to submit abstracts for the ARL Congress 2026, taking place on 1–2 October 2026 in Cologne (Maternushaus).
Following a visit to the ARL Headquarters by Indian experts on 18 December 2025, during which there was a stimulating exchange of views on spatial planning and regional planning specifics in Germany and India, ARL President Axel Priebs was invited to give a presentation on regional planning in the Hanover region as part of the Indian Urban Knowledge Webinar Series.
The ARL Country Profile of Hungary offers a concise overview of the country’s spatial planning system, highlighting recent legislative reforms, governance structures, and planning practices. Authored by Prof. Dr. János Brenner, it examines how Hungary navigates territorial development, sustainability, and urban-rural cohesion within its centralised legal framework and EU context, providing insights into municipal, regional, and national planning approaches.
We are very happy to announce that the disP special issue "Gender Perspectives on Climate Change: Transforming Spatial Planning" has been published Open Access: disP - The Planning Review: Vol 61, No 3
The book explores how urban planning under National Socialism became an instrument of power, exclusion, and war. What role did it play compared to other authoritarian regimes in Europe between 1933 and 1945?
We are pleased to announce that our ARL Forum 'Gender and Spatial Transformation' has developed a Code of Conduct for our cooperation and transdisciplinary knowledge production.
