Development Planning Unit: Junior Professionals Programme launched

At the end of January the first class of a new Development Planning Unit Junior Professionals Programme met in Bangkok along with Dr Camillo Boano, director of the MSc Building and Urban Design and Development (BUDD), and various members of the Asian Coalition of Housing Rights (ACHR), and Community Architects Network (CAN). The partnership and initiative dates back to 2010 following the first of a series of field trips to Bangkok between the BUDD and MSc Urban Development Planning courses. Under the Junior Professional Programme, six DPU Alumni were awarded 6-month paid internships to work in several countries throughout Southeast Asia. These ex-students will experience on-the-job-training supporting the advancement and use of methodologies and tools in community-driven development, specifically working with organisations and community members. To kick off, the group worked with Somsook Boonyabancha (ACHR), Supawut Boonmahathanakorn and Chawanad Luansang (CAN coordinators) through a few days of induction, conversations and training before moving on to start their work in the areas of mapping, planning, design, management, recovery and rehabilitation of housing, land and settlement. For more information please see www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/dpu/news/internshipsasia