Promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in planning
June is Pride month in the UK and Planning Portal would like to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the crucial work that is currently happening within the planning and building sectors to encourage equity, diversity and inclusion.
Inclusion is crucial in creating healthy and truly representative work environments which benefit us all. We hope this article can help connect our audience to some key organisations, schemes and people that are working towards achieving inclusivity for our sectors.
Planning Portal are proudly partnered with Building People, a hub for equity, diversity and inclusion in the built environment that supports employers to engage with a diverse range of talent, whilst driving behavioural and cultural change across the sector.
If you are not familiar with Building People, their platform brings together insight, guidance and resources focused on under-representation and inclusion, including events as well as job vacancies. They amplify the voices of and connect companies to a network of over 60 organisations that have reach into under-represented talent pools of all types, helping to bring together a fragmented careers landscape and create inclusive cultures.
Building People are key champions of positive change within our sector, and we encourage employers to engage with them, to learn how to implement inclusive company cultures and to find new talent before making their next hire.
We’d also like to draw attention to the upcoming PRIDE in Planning event, which will be held in collaboration between Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and Arup on 11 July, in London. The pivotal event will seek to ‘explore the relationship between LGBTQ+ communities and the built environment’ and promises to be an evening full of compelling, educational discussions around inclusivity within our industries.
The panel for the event will include Professor Pippa Catterall, from the University of Westminster, Mei-Yee Man Oram, the Queering Public Space Project Supervisor, Luke Ives, the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Manager at ARUP and Vice-Chair of Trustees for The Proud Trust, and RTPI’s Young Planner of the Year Simeon Shtebunaev.
You can find out more about this free event and book your place on RTPI’s website.
As Young Planner of the Year, Simeon Shtebunaev has consistently used his platform to draw attention to crucial issues which impede the progression of the built environment industries and society at large, from racial bias to climate change.
He recently wrote a brilliant, thought-provoking piece for the RTPI, entitled ‘All spaces should be queer spaces’, in which he draws on examples of prejudice he has personally faced as a queer person working within the planning industry, how microaggressions pervade throughout the sector and how these issues reflect problematic attitudes within society as a whole.
The article highlights RTPI’s equality framework, CHANGE, which we encourage everyone working within the planning industry to familiarise themselves with. In his piece, Simeon reminds us that is not enough for frameworks such as CHANGE to simply exist; we need to work on implementing them into our working practices – ‘As planners we have a responsibility to find, partner and work with [progressive] organisations to create the physical, digital and discursive spaces which allow for queer inclusivity’.
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) are another trusted body that provide free and impartial advice on topics such as employment rights, best practice and resolving workplace conflict. They offer a wealth of guidance for employers on improving equality, diversity and inclusion, including information on the importance of having a workplace policy and how to create and implement one.
Planning Portal are keen to use our platform to promote positive change within planning and building wherever possible. Inclusion is an issue which we are passionate about, so if you are a representative of, or know about, any organisations or schemes that might be relevant for promoting inclusivity in our industries, we’d love to hear from you!
You can reach us at communications@planningportal.co.uk.
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