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Now in its fourth year, the School of Urban and Regional Planning’s international course, which takes a group of Queen’s University students to India to work on a planning project, is a vital part of the program, one that differentiates it from other planning schools in Canada.

“This international course was an experiment when it started four years ago. It’s not an experiment anymore,” says Ajay Agarwal, an associate professor with SURP who leads the course. “It is very successful, there is high demand.”

This year, the course returned to Auroville, an intentionally-planned community, for a third time where they were tasked with creating a public participation framework to be used by the community for planning and development projects. They stayed in the city for 13 days in December.

Through the previous visits there has been a foundation of trust built up between Queen’s and the community, to the point where the residents and administration of Auroville look forward to each new project and the return of the students.

Dr. Agarwal says the main reason is that each group has delivered a project report of professional quality that is then used by the community. This is not theoretical work or a simulation. 

This real world international experience also is a draw for students to the course. No other planning school in Canada offers such an experience, he points out. 

“It was a huge factor (for coming to Queen’s),” says Caroline Morrow (MPL’16), one of the 10 students who took part in the project. “When I was researching schools, the first thing I would do was look up what are the international opportunities.”

Before arriving in India for the final phase of the course, the students conducted months of research, including interviewing many of the people they would be working with. The group also conducted a survey that received 87 responses, which provided valuable information.

The purpose of the course is to mirror that of a real consultation project and the students were hard at work mere hours after arriving. There was a lot to be done in a limited amount of time.

One of the most difficult tasks was organizing logistics, says Dr. Agarwal, such as setting up phones, Internet connectivity and organizing all the things needed for the project. But that is part of the learning process, he adds. In the real world, not everything will go as planned.

“I feel that adaptability is a big thing we learned that I think will be very valuable in terms of trying to find a job because you can stress the fact that you did go to a place you have never been before and worked effectively and came out with a really good product,” says Joanna Salsberg (MPL’16). “So it shows that your ability to work in tight circumstances and in a totally different place has increased from that experience.”

As Dr. Agarwal points out, the ever-changing conditions and teamwork are key elements to the course.

“That’s a big learning outcome from this project. You really learn to work under very tight conditions as a team,” he says. “Everybody has to trust everybody else and everybody has to respect everybody else’s views and not get tied up about your own views.”

During their time in Auroville the workdays were long but the team was able to complete two focus groups, two workshops, three information kiosks and a wide range of interviews. 

“That’s a lot of work to do in 13 days,” Dr. Agarwal says.

The group also presented their work to the Queen’s community on Monday, Jan. 18.

For more information about the course or to obtain a copy of the full project report, contact Dr. Agarwal.