Hello and welcome back to another exciting year of Plan2Plan, your student produced urban and regional planning magazine. I would like to extend my warmest welcome to all of the new planning students in the CIP’s accredited undergraduate and graduate programs across Canada, especially those I have had the opportunity to meet at my own school, UBC. It has been a long and eventful summer for me on the West coast. I have been lucky enough to attend conferences in Prince George and Winnipeg, a youth summit on sustainable transportation here in Vancouver, travel to France to conduct research on public bicycles, intern at TransLink and complete two summer courses. I have to admit I’m glad to be back in class. This, my inaugural issue of Plan2Plan will update you on what student CIP members have been doing over the last several months, let you know what exciting conferences and events you might have missed and provide you with details of the upcoming opportunities in the next school year.

Adam Cooper, CIP/ICU Student Representative (2008-2009) Amie Baker, CIP/ICU Student Representative (2007-2008)

So, for those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Adam Cooper and I am your new national student representative on the CIP council. I am replacing the lovely and talented Amie Baker, who recently graduated from Dalhousie University and has moved into the professional world. I wish her the best of luck as I transition, with enthusiasm and trepidation into her former position. Amie did an excellent job representing planning students last year and I hope I can offer the same service to you.

So what does this issue of Plan2Plan have in store for you? First off, PhD planning student James White from the University of British Columbia offers an interesting thought piece on what it means to be a planner, if you are a first timer in planning school I highly recommend reading it! Next up, check out some more student submissions, including one coming all the way from Bangladesh! This issue also includes information on conferences coming up in your province, news about the CAPS-ACEAU conference in Montreal for 2009, summaries of the CIP/MPPI Conference in Winnipeg and the CIP Climate Change Symposium in Iqaluit, as well as links to interesting videos and more. Read on and discover what is happening in Canada. If you want to contribute something interesting you have learned, a great paper you wrote or even a link to a something cool on YouTube then just email me with the information.

Adam Cooper
2008-2009 Student Representative