August 2018 Issue

IN THIS ISSUE - AUG 2018
We Are OPPI
Your Professional Journey
Building RPP
Knowledge Exchange
What You Need To Know
Career Opportunities
Upcoming Events and Courses

Do you use a drone in your planning work? Have you given any thought to the positives/negatives to the Sidewalk Labs neighbourhood on Toronto's waterfront? Or how to provide or collect planning information and details as part of an open data initiative?

In your work, you gather and analyze information from all sides of an issue. RPPs need to be able to understand what is coming in the future and how it applies to their local communities, especially in instances adopting and adapting technology in your roles.

On Thursday, September 20, at 12:00 p.m., join OPPI President Jason Ferrigan on Twitter as he answers your questions and discusses the issues planners face as technology transforms the role of planning and of RPPs. Please visit OPPI's website for more information.

As we mentioned in previous newsletters, OPPI is embarking on an update of its By-Law.

OPPI is seeking an update to its By-Law, specifically to update its complaints and discipline process. An updated process allows OPPI to set a framework that enhances and improves the effectiveness of the current practice.

Leading up to the voting period, OPPI will provide more information to members on the voting process, proposed by-law updates and a Frequently Asked Questions document through targeted eblasts. Please keep an eye out for this communication from OPPI. We will also inform members when they can expect to receive their electronic ballot to vote on the proposed change. Stay tuned for more information.

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As we all enjoy the summer months, we are more than halfway through the year and this is a good time to start logging your Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) units accumulated to date.

For 2017, over 98% of members met the CPL requirement, and this is great news! To date, 14 percent of members have already met their CPL requirements! We are well on our way to matching, or exceeding, last year's result.

Before the fall approaches, and everyone returns from summer vacation, take a few moments to log your CPL units in the Member Portal and avoid the rush at the end of the year to log all your units.

As a reminder, 18 learning units are required annually. One learning unit equals one hour of direct planningrelated (with some exceptions). A minimum of nine learning units must be structured and a maximum of nine learning units may be individually directed. And, up to nine structured learning units may be carried forward to the following year.

If you have any CPL-related questions, please contact OPPI at standards@ontarioplanners.ca.

In this month's Planning Exchange blog, the winning student team from OPPI"s Student Case Competition discuss their winning proposal of re-envisioning the City of Greater Sudbury's Inno-Tech Park.

The winning team representing the University of Waterloo's graduate planners, proposed a bioremediation and green infrastructure approach that would further the goals of Sudbury's Master Plan while remaining relevant to Greater Sudbury's economic, social and cultural context. They will also attend #OPPI18 and present a workshop on the key learnings and development of their proposal.In this month's Planning Exchange blog, the winning student team from OPPI"s Student Case Competition discuss their winning proposal of re-envisioning the City of Greater Sudbury's Inno-Tech Park. The winning team representing the University of Waterloo's graduate planners, proposed a bioremediation and green infrastructure approach that would further the goals of Sudbury's Master Plan while remaining relevant to Greater Sudbury's economic, social and cultural context. They will also attend #OPPI18 and present a workshop on the key learnings and development of their proposal.

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Since 2015, OPPI has offered its Planning Exchange blog, facilitating the exchange of planning knowledge, best practices and issues important to members, as identified by OPPI's Learning Strategy.

While the Learning Strategy continues to be the foundation on which the development of content, resources and best practices are shared, the Planning Exchange blog will also seek to promote issues of the day, from a planning perspective, and leverage partnerships and stakeholders to populate the blog with interesting and timely posts.

And this is where you come in... We're always looking for great topics, research and ideas to highlight, and members to write for us! Here are some examples we are looking for (and we're happy to consider others):

• Experiences with LPAT - have you gone through the process? What should members know about it?
• A day in the life of... profiling the variety of planning roles that exist across Ontario
• Are you conducting interesting research and want to profile it? Let us know!
• Issues of the day that planners can play a vital role in - do subways make sense over light-rail? How can we design safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists? How can planners help address housing affordability?
• Emerging issues - is there something OPPI isn't covering that members need to know about?
• ...and so much more!

Have we missed anything? Let us know. If you are interested in writing and contributing to our Planning Exchange blog, please contact OPPI's Education Manager, Ryan Des Roches with your article ideas.

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The focus at this year's Oak Ridges District Summer Solstice was the new Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT). Four exceptional, experienced speakers share their own unique perspectives on how they anticipate the LPAT may (or may not) change the way planners do their job.

Hear from Bruce Krushelnicki, RPP (Executive Chair (Retired), Environment and Land Tribunals Ontario (ELTO)), Annik Forristal (Partner, McMillan LLP), Lesley Pavan, RPP (Director of Development and Design, City of Mississauga) and Anna Pace, RPP (Chair, Local Planning Appeal Support Centre). The Summer Solstice video is broken up into two parts.

To learn more and build on your knowledge of LPATs, please visit our Digital Learning platform to view these videos. Thank you to Oak Ridges District for holding their annual Summer Solstice event, and to everyone who attended.

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In June, OPPI's Lakeland District held their fourth annual Jane's Walk in the City of Barrie, led by:

• David Stinson, RPP (Incite Planning)
• Al McNair, RPP (McNair Consulting and Conservation Chair of Nature Barrie)
• Erich Jacoby-Hawkins (Henry George Foundation of Canada)
• Kristin Dibble Pechkovsky, RPP (Senior Policy Advisor with the County of Simcoe)

The walk began at Barrie's waterfront and focused on the themes of public realm, walkability, connectivity, mix-use, the environment and quality of life.

Attendees strolled through the new Military Heritage Park to observe some of the horticultural and design components of this landscaped memorial space. The walk continued through the wildflower meadow and trails to see first-hand the importance of such areas within a City, and to identify some of its features, such as the numerous native red oaks of varying sizes, which can live between 200 to 400 years.

The walk continued through the community of Minet's Point examining some of the area's successes, such as the residential densities, environmental buffering, and varied design. In contrast, the group observed the challenges within the community, such as street design, planning for flood prone areas and lack of mixed use opportunities within a walkable distance.

While enjoying the walk, the final stop was at a local ice cream shop, in business since the 1960s, allowing organizers to talk with attendees and link the idea of the public realm with building social capital in neighbourhoods. Relationships between neighbours can provide the foundation for mutual trust, shared efforts and resilience.

Thank you to Lakeland District for organizing this great walking tour, and to those in attendance. For more information on this walk, please contact Lakeland District.