Is climate change in the curriculum? An analysis of Australian urban planning degrees

Abstract

The profession of urban planning contributes to the design and spatial arrangement of cities, and has been recognized as a key potential facilitator of action on climate change. Yet, there has been limited research to understand if, or how, urban planning students are being educated for climate change competency. This paper investigates the coverage of climate change in the curriculum of professionally accredited urban planning university degrees in Australia. Climate change coverage was assessed across three fields: 1) explicit climate change issues; 2) sustainable urban form issues (e.g. contributing to climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions), and 3) education for sustainability (with links to professional competencies relevant to climate change action). A content analysis was undertaken of: 1) the Planning Institute of Australia’s Policy for the Accreditation of Urban Planning Qualifications, and 2) a sample of nine accredited urban planning degrees. Limited coverage of explicit climate change issues and sustainable urban form issues was found. Coverage of education for sustainability themes (liberal education; civics; interdisciplinarity; cosmopolitism) was stronger. Results indicate that the professional accreditation policy, and the content of urban planning degrees should be revised to include greater coverage of explicit climate change issues.