Town planners shape the places where life happens. From playgrounds and football pitches to transport routes, safe streets and green spaces – planners make communities healthier, safer and more enjoyable for everyone.
But so few people – let alone children – know about them and what they REALLY do. New for 2025/26, our partnership with the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) is changing all that. Young people across the UK will get the chance to meet real planners and hear how they turn ideas into places.
We’re bringing professional town planners into schools – in person and online – to spark curiosity, raise aspirations, and show that planning is a career that changes lives. They’re engaging volunteers, aiming to raise awareness with thousands of young people, especially in under-represented areas, of the rewarding, life-changing work that they do.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Education & Employers… I’m hopeful that together we’ll be able to inspire more young people to consider planning as a future career.”
– Dr Caroline Brown, Interim Director for Education, RTPI
What town planners do
Planners are behind many of the things that make places work and feel good. They:
- Design safe, healthy neighbourhoods with parks, schools and shops nearby
- Plan sustainable transport so people can walk, cycle or use public transport easily
- Make sure there’s space for homes, nature and jobs side by side
- Help towns adapt to climate change, flooding and new technologies
- Protect heritage sites and green spaces for future generations
- Work with communities so everyone has a voice in shaping their area
Renewable energy is important in the transition away from fossil fuels. But, on-shore windfarms have impacts too – and planners have a key role to play in assessing where wind turbines should and shouldn’t be located.
It’s creative, collaborative work that combines design, science, geography, and social understanding – the kind of things young people are learning every day at school.
Inspiring role models
Town planners don’t build things themselves, but they guide what gets built, where and why – they make sure every space works well for the people who live and work there, now and in the future. That’s inspiring.
Through classroom visits and virtual sessions, volunteer town planners can bring these stories to life. For younger children, it’s about sparking curiosity – helping them notice the world around them and wonder “Who decided where our park should go?”
For older students, it’s about showing the many paths into planning and the intriguing range of jobs – from urban design and transport to environmental and heritage planning. And learning about career routes in, through apprenticeships, university courses and career changes, all leading to work that makes a tangible difference.
When pupils meet a planner, they start to see how the places around them come to be – and that planning is full of real, creative jobs they could do one day!
How schools can get involved
It’s easy to take part – and you can do it in whatever way works best for your school.
(1) Join a virtual event this November
We’re running various activities over the 2025/26 academic year – the first two are national online events where pupils will hear from real town planners about how they help create the places we all use every day. It’s a quick, engaging way to introduce planning as a career and spark classroom discussion. Use the links below for more information and to register your class.
For primary schools – 6 November
This fun virtual event introduces pupils to town planners. Highly interactive and run by our experienced team of former teachers, children will learn how planners help make our communities safe, happy, and fun places to live and play!
For secondary schools – 11 November
Designed for students KS3 and above to discover careers in town planning. Students will hear directly from professional planners about designing sustainable, inclusive and vibrant communities, and the skills needed to do their job.
(2) Invite a town planner into your school
Use our platform to find and get in touch directly with volunteer planners for an informal chat in your classroom (mini speed networking works really well, and we can help with resources for this) or assembly – in person or online.
We have ready-made questions, ideas and short activities to help you run a simple, inspiring session.
Whether it’s one class, two classes or the whole school, a single planner or several career guests, it’s all about those real experiences and intelligent conversations that open minds.
I work as a town planner and I’d like to get involved as a volunteer
That would be brilliant! Sharing your career story can have such a significant impact on young people and secure the future of your sector. Everybody who gets involved as a volunteer comes away inspired by the children, and hugely surprised by the difference they’ve made.
How it works
It’s really easy to get involved. Just sign up with a few details about yourself – then you can either wait for schools to get in touch with opportunities, or have a look yourself for activities in your local area or online. You can take part in person or virtually – whatever works best for you.
All we ask is around an hour a year, and for you to enjoy sharing your experiences.
If you’re already an RTPI ambassador
By registering here, your activities in schools can be easily connected back to RTPI. That helps them celebrate the brilliant outreach happening across the country and show the collective impact planners are having on young people.
“Hopefully they got an appreciation of just how diverse this sector is. There are lots of obvious jobs… but hundreds more that people probably don’t consider..” Volunteer
Support and resources
We offer lots of support in terms of getting started, ideas and best practice – simply call our small, friendly team on 0207 566 4880 or email us enquiries@inspiringthefuture.org to get 121 support. We also provide you with a volunteers guide when you sign up.
The RTPI also have brilliant assets for their ambassadors, featuring lesson plans, classroom activities and ideas for introducing town planning to pupils of different ages. Check them out here: Ambassadors’ Toolkits | Championing the Power of Planning
Together we do everything to help you feel prepared and confident before volunteering.
Join our community of over 90,000 volunteers – from seasoned professionals to new apprentices. Everyone’s welcome and valued.
If you’re passionate about what you do and want to inspire the next generation, we’d love to hear from you.
I’m an employer in this sector and I’d like to get involved
If you are an employer in the sector, we encourage you to support your employees to sign up as volunteers. There are many proven advantages for staff, with volunteering building on presentation and communication skills, increasing confidence and improving wellbeing.
There’s more information in our employer section, plus a request for more information using the button below.
About the Royal Town Planning Institute
The Royal Town Planning Institute (the RTPI), champions the value of planning in building thriving places and communities. With over 27,000 members worldwide, they support planners at every stage of their career: raising professional standards, shaping planning policy, and proudly awarding chartered status which is the highest professional accreditation in UK planning.
For over a century, the RTPI have empowered planners to deliver positive impact: creating healthy, inclusive, economically and environmentally sustainable places. As the voice of the profession, they advocate, support, and lead with purpose, professionalism, and passion.
