VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School 2026
Are you a young professional or student passionate about shaping spatial planning solutions for the Baltic Sea Region’s future development? Do you have ideas on how to strengthen the region’s resilience and adapt to climate change, while balancing the use of land and sea space? Can you think of ways how to ensure sustainable connections between goods and people, or how to make use of digital tools and artificial intelligence in spatial planning?
VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School is an international contest and collaborative learning event for young professionals working or studying across a broad range of topics related to geography, spatial planning, and regional studies across the Baltic Sea Region. It engages young professionals in shaping the future of the Baltic Sea Region, providing an opportunity to build a network of next-generation planners, make new contacts, and connect with the spatial planning community.
The 3rd edition of VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School is organised as part of VASAB Polish Chairmanship and is co-organised by VASAB Secretariat, Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy of Poland, Gdansk University of Technology in partnership with Estonian Association of Spatial Planners and Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL). VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School 2026 “Navigate Planning Through Changes” is an international contest and collaborative learning event to be held in Gdańsk, Poland, from 23–29 August 2026.
During the Summer School international and cross-sectoral teams will be formed to prepare propositions on spatial planning challenges regarding resilience, climate change, mobility and effective land-use. Teams will be provided with introductory workshops, and team mentors will be available through the whole Summer School.
Expected results of the VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School are recommendations, ideas and solutions from young spatial planning professionals on emerging Baltic Sea Region challenges. The winning group will be granted a possibility to present their work at the VASAB Directors General meeting, October 2026 and results of competition will also be disseminated in relevant spatial planning events and networks.
Application for the Summer School is finished, organisers have selected 30 young spatial planning professionals from Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark and Ukraine to take part in VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School. During the event participants will be divided into six groups with the aim in a competitive way to solve four spatial planning challenges:
- Preparedness and resilience;
- Climate change adaptation and mitigation, including green energy investment;
- Connections between people and places;
- Effective use of space, including no net land take and multiuse concepts.
VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School 2026 has been funded by the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) Project Support Facility (PSF).
The CBSS does not make any warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the information in this publication. The views, findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in the publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CBSS.
More about application
APPLICATION IS FINISHED!
Are you a young professional or student passionate about shaping spatial planning solutions for the Baltic Sea Region’s future development? Do you have ideas on how to strengthen the region’s resilience and adapt to climate change, while balancing the use of land and sea space? Can you think of ways how to ensure sustainable connections between goods and people, or how to make use of digital tools and artificial intelligence in spatial planning?
VASAB (Visions and Strategies Around the Baltic Sea) and Gdańsk University of Technology announce an open call for applications to the VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School 2026 “Navigate Planning Through Changes”, an international contest and collaborative learning event to be held in Gdańsk, Poland, from 23–29 August 2026. The Summer School will engage young professionals in shaping the future of the Baltic Sea Region, providing an opportunity to build a network of next-generation planners, make new contacts, and connect with the spatial planning community.
During the Summer School international and cross-sectoral teams will be formed to prepare propositions on spatial planning challenges regarding resilience, climate change, mobility and effective land-use. Teams will be provided with introductory workshops, and team mentors will be available through the whole Summer School. The best ideas developed during the Summer School will be presented at the high-level VASAB meeting and may contribute to future VASAB strategic documents.
How to apply?
- Describe one major challenge that the Baltic Sea Region faces today and that is of particular importance for its future spatial development.
- Fill in the application form and send it by 7 April 2026 via email young.planners@vasab.org
- Applications for participants from Denmark, Norway, and Ukraine have been extended until 10 May 2026.
- Read full Summer School regulation here.
- Download application form below.
Who can participate?
- Young professionals with a Master’s or doctoral degree, or who are currently studying at the Master’s or doctoral level or other postgraduate levels from a wide variety of disciplines related to geography, spatial planning, and regional studies in a broad sense;
- Not older than 35 years, but have not worked in the same field for more than 5 years;
- Are studying or working in one of the VASAB member countries (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Sweden) and Norway, Denmark, Ukraine;
- Have an interest in regional development and/or spatial and/or strategic planning;
- Participants must be available to participate in the Summer School in Gdansk, Poland, from 23 to 29 August 2026;
- Participants of the Baltic Sea Region Young Planners Contest, Poznan 2019 and Greifswald 2022 are not allowed to apply again.
Participation in the Summer School is free of change. Travel costs (max 200 EUR per participant), accommodation and catering costs for participants will be covered.
Regulation for the VASAB Young Planners Summer School