VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School 2026

About project

VASAB Young Planners Summer School 2026: Navigate Planning Through Changes is a platform for students and early-career professionals to collaborate across borders and disciplines. The highlight and the main activity of the project is an intensive 5-day workshop and capacity-building event on resilience and security challenges in Gdansk, Poland (23 – 29 August 2026). 

In this event, groups of young professionals from different countries with the support from experts and mentors work for 5 days on challenges and prepare development proposals for the pressing challenges in the Baltic Sea Region. Teams’ proposals and policy recommendations on security and resilience will be disseminated through relevant spatial planning networks and organisations.

Project aim

The aim of the project is to strengthen societal security and resilience in the Baltic Sea Region by equipping young spatial planners with skills to address emerging risks, including climate change, infrastructure vulnerability, and hybrid threats.

Expected results

• Recommendations, ideas and solutions from young spatial planning professionals on emerging Baltic Sea Region challenges: preparedness and resilience, climate change adaptation and mitigation, connections between people and places and effective use of space.
• Social media campaign – dissemination of teams’ results and proposals in relevant spatial planning events and networks.

Project lead partner

• VASAB

Project co-partners

• Gdansk University of Technology
• Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy of Poland
• Estonian Association of Spatial Planners
• Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL)