ABSTRACT

Changes in planning education programs might be considered in order to give planners the skills needed to gain access to and succeed in the civic sector. Planning curricula could be modified to include courses in advocacy and political action, not-for-profit management, and fund-raising and development. Two case studies, one national and one regional, illustrate the growth in civic-sector activity, as well as the extent to which professional planners are underrepresented in this growth. Both case studies are based on the personal experience of the author and do not reflect an authoritative survey of employment in these two areas. The organization 1000 Friends of Oregon established the National Growth Management Leadership Project in 1990 to create a mutual support and information-sharing forum for the nation's expanding statewide and regional growth management groups. The Regional Plan Association is the oldest civic-sector planning group in the region, having been established as an ad hoc group in 1922 and incorporated in 1929.