Wendy’s Blog: Bringing Planning to Life

                    Wendy’s Blog: Bringing Planning to Life   This is my blog as an independent planner.   My aim is to bring planning to life.   And en route, to bring life to planning.   It has four components:   Professional posts Personal posts Posts from… Continue reading Wendy’s Blog: Bringing Planning to Life

NIMBY Psychology: What Can a Planner Do?

Last night we had a lively discussion in Brisbane hosted by the Planning Institute, Queensland Branch.   Stephanie Wyeth, a highly experienced engagement practitioner and Director of Urbis, Queensland, and I spoke about the practical aspects of community engagement in a well-attended “How-To” seminar.     I spoke about NIMBY Psychology: What Can a Planner… Continue reading NIMBY Psychology: What Can a Planner Do?

Social Planner’s Distress Call: The NBN Information Session in Nimbin

    The inappropriate dress and exposed breasts of the woman from Ericsson were the best (or the worst, depending on your perspective) features of the NBN Information Session in Nimbin Town Hall today.   Oh dear.   Social Planner’s Distress Call.   Again.   It’s been a hard week and it’s only Monday.  … Continue reading Social Planner’s Distress Call: The NBN Information Session in Nimbin

Banging on about Bang the Table

A couple of times recently, I’ve heard Australians complain about the Australian online engagement firm, Bang the Table (BTT) (see https://bangthetable.com/).   I’ve done their training and greatly admire their work, which I see as directly complementary to my more “hands-on” approaches.   I decided it was time to sort things out in my own… Continue reading Banging on about Bang the Table

Please Spare Manitoba!

  Manitoba in the early days   What now?   I never thought I’d see the day! One of the best examples of medium-density housing in Australia is up for redevelopment! How can this be?   Where is our memory?   Is new always better?   Don’t we know what’s good when we see it?… Continue reading Please Spare Manitoba!

NIMBY psychology at Harvard University February 2013

  NIMBY psychology comes to Harvard — from Australia!   February was an exciting month for me. I spent it teaching in the Graduate School of Design (GSD) at Harvard University and giving lectures and classes at MIT and Tufts University.   It was exceptionally cold for a person who lives in the sub-tropics. A… Continue reading NIMBY psychology at Harvard University February 2013

Emotions Count in Community Engagement

                      There’s lots of discussion about emotion in community engagement these days.   Maybe that’s because we’ve ignored this important component for decades.   Adelaide’s independent newspaper, InDaily, recommends, following an interview with me last week, that we “consider emotion in community engagement.”   The… Continue reading Emotions Count in Community Engagement

“Realising the Revolution”: Medium-Density Housing in Queensland by Bridget Rogan and Fran Toomey

First posted June 8, 2012 – 3:21 pm   Two Brisbane Planners Call for a “Revolutionary” Approach to Increasing Housing Density: Realising the Revolution?     In a recent paper to the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) Queensland conference, Bridget Rogan and Fran Toomey of the Council of Mayors (SEQ) presented the results of work… Continue reading “Realising the Revolution”: Medium-Density Housing in Queensland by Bridget Rogan and Fran Toomey

Better Together? Let’s Get Practical!

              Better Together   Last week, an Adelaide-based colleague gave me a copy of Better Together: Principles of Engagement, just published by the South Australian Government.     You can read about it at:   https://saplan.org.au/yoursay and https://saplan.org.au/better_together   You can also comment. I tried to do that but… Continue reading Better Together? Let’s Get Practical!

Wendy Sarkissian on Nimby Psychology at The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, Adelaide, 29 May 2013

                  NIMBY psychology is coming to Adelaide!   On 29th May at 6 pm, I will be presenting on NIMBY psychology at a free public lecture at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at the University of South Australia. The lecture is free but seating is lmited… Continue reading Wendy Sarkissian on Nimby Psychology at The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, Adelaide, 29 May 2013