&nbsp;
<p align="center"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Seminar Announcement: Date for Your Diary</span></strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong><em>Planning Reform on the Island of Ireland: From Policy to PRACTICE
</em></strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>ICLRD and Cooperation Ireland</strong></p>
<p align="center">in association with
<strong><em>The Department of Environment, Northern Ireland</em></strong>
and
<strong><em>The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Republic of Ireland</em></strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>Thursday 2<sup>nd</sup> May 2013, Canal Court Hotel, Newry</strong><strong></strong>
~ Registration 9.30am ~</p>
With the impending transfer of statutory planning functions from central government to new councils in Northern Ireland in 2015 under the Review of Public Administration (RPA) and significant changes being made to the planning system in the Republic of Ireland, this aptly timed seminar will provide plenty of opportunity for lively open debate and discussion on the important – and common – planning decisions facing both jurisdictions.
<strong>During the course of this one-day event, themes that will be discussed include:</strong>
<ul>
	<li>The issues shaping planning policy and practice in both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland</li>
	<li>The role of planning in the promotion of economic development at a local and regional level</li>
	<li>The strategies / tools for evidence-based planning</li>
	<li>The importance of local knowledge and public inputs in informing policy- and decision-making</li>
	<li>The challenges of infrastructure – development alignment</li>
	<li>The (growing) significance of renewable energies in sustainable – and economic – development</li>
	<li>The purpose of enhanced capacity building / training for all those involved in local government</li>
	<li>The need for development indicators on an island of Ireland basis.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Amongst others, confirmed seminar speakers include:</strong><strong></strong>
<ul>
	<li>Ross Martin, Centre for Scottish Public Policy<strong></strong></li>
	<li>Ian Maye, Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland<strong></strong></li>
	<li>David McCammick, Northern Ireland Planning Working Group &amp; Antrim Borough Council<strong></strong></li>
	<li>Justin Gleeson, All Island Research Observatory, NUI Maynooth<strong></strong></li>
	<li>Michael Doran, Action Renewables</li>
	<li>Gavin Daly, ESPON Contact Point - Ireland</li>
	<li>Ciaran Cuffe, Dublin Institute of Technology (and former Government Minister)</li>
</ul>
<a href="http://dev.iclrd.org/iclrd2/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/CoopIreland-ICLRD-Event-FinalProgramme-2May13-1.pdf">Program Link</a>
<strong>Who Should Attend:</strong>
This conference is aimed at elected members, council officials, planners, policy-makers and senior local government personnel from across the island of Ireland.
<strong>To register for this seminar:</strong>
Please email your name, organisation and job title/position to:
- Anne Anderson Porter: <a title="mailto:aporter@cooperationireland.org" href="mailto:aporter@cooperationireland.org" target="_blank">aporter@cooperationireland.org</a>
- Agnes Breton: <a title="mailto:abreton@cooperationireland.org" href="mailto:abreton@cooperationireland.org" target="_blank">abreton@cooperationireland.org</a>
<strong>Seminar Programme</strong>:
A full seminar programme will be available shortly. The seminar will commence at 9.30am and close at 4.30pm on Thursday 2<sup>nd</sup> of May.