Queen's Graduate Association of Planning Students- QGAPS
Queen's University K7L 3N5 Kingston, ON, Canada

The SURP community heard from three students who won International Experience Awards to travel for research in summer 2019. Hayley Nabuurs travelled to Chester, England to look at accessibility at heritage sites. Jenny Sutton travelled to Freetown, Sierra Leone to look at environmental planning in the Global South. And Kyla Tanner travelled to Vienna, Austria to look at affordable housing projects. It was great to hear about their research and lessons for Canadian planners!

Fellow SURPer Nadia El Dabee has been selected as a finalist in the QUIC International Photo Contest for her beautiful photo titled "Toes in the Bay"! Help us all out and give the photo a LIKE at the link below to help her win Peoples Choice! https://www.facebook.com//ms.c.eJxlj0E/10155960332951190/

If they had asked me ten years ago if I wanted to be a Planner, I would not have known what that meant. I started out in the sciences, on track to becoming a nurse. I wanted to help people. I wanted to do my part for my community. I wanted to create safe spaces. In hindsight, I always knew how I wanted to contribute to my community, I just did not know what that would look like. Fast forward through a college diploma and two bachelor degrees in sustainable design, environmen...tal studies, and geography, and I am exactly where I want to be. As a Designer, I thrive in the complex problem-solving opportunities of the planning field. As a Planner, I will be in a position where I can foster those safe spaces in support of my community. My passion is in sustainable community development and natural resource management where a comprehensive approach supports equity, self-sufficiency, and resilience. My research focuses on watershed planning and renewable energy development. I am thankful for the opportunity to study and grow at SURP- Alyssa Alexander, MPL Candidate 2020 See more

I was lucky enough to stumble across planning during a summer internship in 2016. I worked with many inspiring people on everything from light rail transit and renewable energy, to highway expansion and archaeological field work. I was, and still am, so excited by the variety of interesting projects this career path will bring and the brilliant planners I will work with along the way. Since discovering this career, I have gained a full year of work experience, which spans t...he private, municipal, and federal planning realms. Ive provided planning review and advisory services, written planning reports, and assisted with public consultation. Overall, Ive developed a love of land use and development planning, and I look forward to exploring new opportunities in these areas when I finish my studies in April of this year. - Colleen Ivits, MPL Candidate 2019 See more

Hey SURPers! After Fridays Professional Development Seminar from Stephen Willis, General Manager- Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development for the City of Ottawa, Mr. Willis will be around for an informal meet and greet!!! Do not miss this opportunity to stop by, say hi and ask him all your burning planning and career questions! Snacks and refreshments will be provided!

On the internship hunt ? Excited for your post-grad school job search? Come learn all about the Top 10 strategies for interviews from the wonderful Stephen Willis, General Manager- Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development for the City of Ottawa this Friday from 12-1pm!

"I was inspired to go back to school and study planning while working on a report for the Office of the Auditor General of Canada on climate change adaptation. I was trying to provide on the ground action from the federal government, but found it very difficult. The best adaptation examples came from municipalities. As much as I enjoyed by job, I wanted to be passionate about my work. Im excited to pursue the ways in which we can help adapt and improve our communities while studying at Queens and in my career"- Kyla Tanner, MPL Candidate 2020

Another winter formal down! Thank you to everyone who made our night at the art gallery a success! @ Agnes Etherington Art Centre

Shoutout to QGAPs social committee for planning such a fun night out! SURP & Geo bowling night was a huge hit! @ Cloverleaf Lanes- Mark Roth Bowling Clinic

Campus has been looking oh so pretty this week! @ Queens University

SURPs land use and real estate project is working with the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa (ADO) on a real estate portfolio for their parishes. The scope of the project involves assessing the potential opportunites for affordable housing development among the ADOs assets by carrying out an analysis of applicable City of Ottawa policies, including land use, heritage guidelines, environmental constraints, as well as important neighbourhood indicators such as real estate market, demographics, and circulation performance. This week, accompanied by Alice Fyfe, a planning consultant for ADO, the team visited parishes in Ottawa to better understand the physical planning conditions and cultural relevance of the parishes and the adjacent neighbourhoods.

SURPs land use project course is working on a redevelopment plan for a social housing community near the site of a future LRT station in Ottawa. Yesterday, the Project Team hosted a design charrette at @queensuniversity to pick the brains of many different experts in their respective fields! It was a great day of presentations, discussions, and sketching. The Project Team wants to thank all participants for joining in to share their knowledge and ideas, including those from Ottawa Community Housing, @cityofottawa, DSEL, @fotennplan, @city.of.kingston, Carl Bray & Associates, and @queensuniversity ! @ Queens University

Campus has been looking oh so pretty this week! @ Queen's University

SURP's land use and real estate project is working with the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa (ADO) on a real estate portfolio for their parishes. The scope of the project involves assessing the potential opportunites for affordable housing development among the ADOs assets by carrying out an analysis of applicable City of Ottawa policies, including land use, heritage guidelines, environmental constraints, as well as important neighbourhood indicators such as real estate market, demographics, and circulation performance. This week, accompanied by Alice Fyfe, a planning consultant for ADO, the team visited parishes in Ottawa to better understand the physical planning conditions and cultural relevance of the parishes and the adjacent neighbourhoods.

SURPs health and social project course is working on integrated university campus planning for Queens University and its newly acquired St. Marys of the Lake property. In addition to an analysis of local conditions, the team is researching the best practices and principles for integrated campus design as well as establishing community consultation guidelines. This week the team was visited by Josh Neubauer and Mary Castel from @urbstrat, an urban design and planning consultancy based in Toronto, who discussed ways to conduct an effective community engagement process. #urbanplanning #campusplanning #surp

Ive always been intrigued by the ways in which people perceive and create place and space. How slight changes in a space can make people feel differently about places and bring different meanings to the way they perceive those places. With background knowledge in sustainability and sociology, I wanted to use my interests to make a difference in the way planners shape and create spaces in cities. Urban planning for future generations has always heavily resonated with me; creating sustainable and healthy spaces that can be enjoyed for generations to come. Through my research of neighborhood sustainability initiatives, I hope to one day make a difference in the way communities are planned- Bryanne Robinson, MPL Candidate 2019

Where better to study heritage conservation than Heritage Perth?! Thanks Professor Carl Bray for taking SURP 858 to Perth, Ontario it was magical. @ Perth, Ontario

On the road again! Our first years spent the weekend visiting beautiful Montreal learning about urbanism thanks to Professor David Gordon and former SURP grad Tyler Wood! @ Montreal, Quebec

The Class of 2019!

Former SURP grad and @uofwaterloo professor @markus_moos gave an amazing lecture on hipsters and young adults living in cities today! Your presentation was insightful and we all had a blast ! Come back anytime!

A huge thank you to the City of @greatersudbury, Sudbury transit and of course @ontarioplanners for having Queens SURP attend this years symposium. Your continued support of students is much appreciated! See you all next year!

First OPPI conference for the class of 2020 down #oppi18

Just some of our first years having a blast at this years symposium! #oppi18

SURP takes #oppi18

We are excited to share this news about our students, Lindsay Allman (MPL18), Andrew Eberhard (MPL18), Peter Huan (MPL18), and Gabrielle Snow (MPL19) who won the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) challenge to bring fresh and innovative ideas to creating affordable rental housing in Canada. Another amazing example of the work SURP students do on both a local and national level. Congrats you made SURP proud! ... https://www.queensu.ca//stories/tiny-idea-big-winner-stude

SURP 858- Heritage Conservation Planning had a great day outside learning about heritage conservation in the Kingston area! #builtenvironment #heritage #kingston_on

A big thank you to @stephania_lazagna , @rosewell_snow and @leahmarieweiler for sharing insights from their research trips to Colombia, Ireland and Spain! Their research was funded through SURPs International Experience Awards. More information about the IEA is available on the department website. @ Queens University

I love planning because the opportunities are endless for what you can plan for. From bustling busy streets of urban cities to the tranquil lands of natural spaces, I am thankful to pursue planning in Canada because we are exposed to such a diverse set of communities that come from different parts of the world. The opportunities are endless to learn from such disparate knowledge and it is gratifying to find places where all these clashing cultures can find co-existence, while living comfortably and strongly united in a common space- Mark Ong, MPL Candidate 2019

Thanks @kassfior for this amazing shot of @queensuniversity on your walk to the School of Urban and Regional Planning! We cannot wait to see the leaves continue to change colour!

Meet Sarah! MPL Candidate 2019 Before SURP, Sarah attended Queens for a Health Studies undergraduate degree where she began to understand how the environment and health related outcomes interact. She is specializing in Health and Social Planning and is interested in learning about healthy community planning, approaches to planning with Indigenous peoples, and sustainable environmental planning. After working for the City of Hamiltons Planning and Economic Development department this summer, Sarahs understanding for policy planning and zoning by-law reform grew. She looks forward to a future in many different areas (i.e. accessibility consulting), but until then its back to the books for a sixth and final year at her favourite school (go Gaels go)!!!

Classes are underway at Mac Corry Hall aka home base for planning students at the School of Urban and Regional Planning