ABOUT THE YA BLOG
Overview
The AESOP Young Academics Network, a loosely structured branch of the Association of European Schools of Planning, encourages active participation and scholarly exchange. From PhD students to post-docs and early-career academics, the YA Network serves as a platform for the intellectual leaders of tomorrow to share ideas in an open and inclusive environment, challenging and supporting each other to achieve academic excellence. The AESOP YA blog was launched in 2014 and is managed by the YA Coordination Team.
Blog editors
The following dedicated team of YA blog editors manage and review incoming blog submissions.
Anjeza Llubani
Anjeza Llubani (Dott., Dott.mag.) is a licensed architect and PhD Candidate in Urbanism at Graz University of Technology. Her research focuses on urban fragmentation in post‑socialist cities, advancing “urban choreography” as a lens that bridges urban design with sociological and cultural readings of the city. She is a Visiting Lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Tirana (2019–present), teaching architectural history and urban/heritage themes. Her publications address Balkan modernization narratives, architectural typology, and Albanian cultural buildings (cinemas and theatres, 1945–1990).
Michael Hayes
Michael K. Hayes is an architect and PhD candidate in Urban Design at University College Dublin. His research on the environmental impact of different forms of urban expansion on existing settlement types is funded by the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) and Research Ireland through the Enterprise Partnership Scheme. Michael was co-editor of the recent publication on housing in Dublin, Care and Consideration: on the work of Gerry Cahill Architects.
Contributions
We welcome proposals for contributions from members of the network, as well as non-members, and anyone interested in planning and research in a broader sense, including early-stage researchers, students, activists, and practitioners. This is a “quasi-academic” platform, a place for the exchange of ideas: information about events of relevance for both members and non-members; dissemination of “best practices”; debates on urban, environmental and social issues of interest for the general public, etc.
All types of content are welcome, including:
- summaries of your journal articles
- summaries of events/conferences you attended or organised
- book reviews
- personal reflections about the field of spatial planning
- academic career tips you would like to share, such as writing effective grant applications
- resources or toolboxes relevant to your field of expertise
- cross-posting from other blogs and platforms
Alongside traditional blog posts, we also highly encourage innovative formats such as, but not limited to: podcasts, video abstracts, 3-minute sprints, artistic contributions, infographics, photo essays, and so on.
If you wish to propose or submit a post, or for any other inquiries related to the YA blog, please email us at: [email protected] and include [email protected] and [email protected] in CC.
Please read out submission guidelines carefully before sending us your proposal.
Articles give the views of the author, and not the position of the AESOP Young Academics network.
All articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
