The YA blog in 2020

Reading time: 4 minutes 

2020 broke a new record in terms of the number of visitors on the blog of the AESOP Young Academics network since its inception in 2014: over 11,000 visitors for more than 16,000 views. This is despite the generalised digital overload (Zoom, Teams, e-learning portals, Slack... ) we have all suffered from!

A big thank you to all those who shared great, inspiring insight and valuable resources on the YA blog in 2021! 

The blog remains here to support you and provide an outlet to share your findings, thoughts and experience about all things spatial and planning-related. As a collective effort, we need each other to grow as researchers, teachers, activists and practitioners and support the communities worldwide that need quality spatial planning more than ever.

Three stellar blog posts that stood out in 2020

• 12 useful books and articles on qualitative research methods by Viktorija Priļenska (1,700 views) - already one of the three top-read blog post!
• Placemaking and climate resilience by Konstantina Vidou (430 views)
• Covid-19 and climate resilience: Effective disaster prevention and management practices by Olga Chepelianskaia (360 views 

Word cloud about research methods by Viktorija Priļenska

The posts with most views in 2020

Besides the post by Viktorija cited above, these earlier blog posts also caught readers' attention: 

• Online participatory mapping for spatial planning by Ian Babelon (1,100 views) - published in 2017
• Social entreprise, made in France - helping people and planet? by Ian Babelon (800 views) - published in 2018
• The Journal of Universal Rejection exists! by Simone Tulumello (460 views) - published in 2015

Thematic highlights

Below are all the excellent posts published in 2020, by theme:

Getting to know the AESOP Young Academics network

• Insight into the CT's work - find out all about what the YA network does, and the many ways you can get involved.
• Presentation from Elisa Privitera – New YA Coordination Team Member! - get to know your amazing coordination team
• Presentation from Ledio Allkja - New YA Coordination Team member! - get to know your amazing coordination team
• Getting to know Konstantina Vidou, your new YA blog co-editor
• Governing the unknown: Adaptive spatial planning in the age of uncertainty - description of the YA 2020 conference that unfortunately had to be postponed to 2021 due to covid. Call for abstracts is closed.
• The Top 10 Blog Posts on the YA blog since 2014 - a great place to find out about the varied research done by YA members since the YA blog's inception.
• You could be… the next editor-in-chief of the blog of the AESOP YA network - let's get to know you. You could be a great part of the YA blog team - as editor or active member, depending on your interest and availability.

The local committee for the YA conference in Tirana (Albania) meeting digitally at the beginning of the pandemic

Disaster management, resilience, sustainability and mapping

• COVID-19 and climate resilience: Effective disaster prevention and management practices by Olga Chepelianskaia.
• Placemaking and climate resilience by Konstantina Vidou
• Community-led heritage mapping in Kathmandu (Nepal) by Olga Chepelianskaia
• Cognitive mapping to understand neighbourhoods – Kenya by Olga Chepelianskaia
• Environmental resource mapping by Olga Chepelianskaia

Placemaking & architecture 

• The medina as a historic urban landscape by Sarah Ben Salem
• Games for better planning and participation by Viktorija Priļenska
• Architectural and urban recycling: challenges and perspectives by Amine Mseddi
• Placemaking: toolkits & books by Ian Babelon
• Placemaking trends and people by Ian Babelon 

A creative rendition of the historical medina in Grand Tunis by Sarah Ben Salem

Being a researcher, networking & facilitation

• Desassossego [disquiet]: reflecting on being academics during the Covid-19 pandemic - these reflections by the Urban Transitions Hub at the University of Lisbon remain highly topical and essential for 2021 and beyond.
• Adapting PhD research during the Covid1-19 pandemic by Caitlin Hafferty
• Preparing to shine at the VIVA and Shining at the VIVA - two must-reads to get through your PhD defense without having to fight a battle - by Ian Babelon
• Online workshops: Expert tips & six formats - how to facilitate online workshops - by Ian Babelon
• Planning-related conferences - a selective, crowdsourced list of conferences of interest to planning researcher, practitioners that were expected to take place in 2020. The post is a permanent page on the YA blog, it is a good place to find your next conference (online or in-person) as they convene on a regular basis. Do share your favourite conference if it is not on the list.
• Planning-related journals - a selective, crowdsourced list of planning-related journals. A good place to start if you are a looking for an academic journal. A companion to the list of Open Access journals.
• Open Access journals - updated list of fully-open access journals that do not charge any fee for authors for open access.
• Resources for academia - finding a PhD, finishing it, getting published, applying for grants and postdocs, thriving vs. surviving as an academic
• Cartoons for systemic change and recovery by Ian Babelon.

Community does not stop with covid! Being a researcher means staying resilient while asking the questions that transcend mainstream debates and framings. A familiar experience for all of us: The Urban Transitions Hub at the University of Lisbon meeting as usual - except online.

The state of the art

• Public and stakeholder engagement, covid-19 and the ‘digital explosion’ – are we heading towards a more ‘blended’ approach? by Caitlin Hafferty
• Top books and key events of the 2010s in the USA - a review of the landmark books and events that contributed to shape a decade of spatial planning in the United States
• Digital adaptations & reflections: from people to planet by Ian Babelon

Calls for blog posts - get blogging as these are still open! 

• Planning around COP25 - a call for blog posts about what spatial planning can do for the climate and the environment, to mark the UN Climate Conference that took place in December 2019 in Madrid, and other landmark climate-related events and initiatives
• The EU Climate Pact and Green Deal - similar to the above: a call for blog posts about all things environmental

Share your work and insight

2021 can be a stellar year for spatial planning community - so do send through your work and insight in the form of blog posts, artwork, podcasts, video abstracts, and so on. This can nurture the YA community in these challenging times. Sharing on the YA blog will boost the impact and dissemination of your work, as it connects thousands of spatial planning experts and aficionados worldwide. The YA blog provides a unique space to learn from each other and help move the field of spatial planning in the most desirable direction.

Here are some basic guidelines and ideas about how and what to share.

Looking forward to publishing your work on the YA blog in 2021!

Photo by Dimitry Anikin on Pexels.com