Ms Joanna Kelly has been elected as President of the Irish Planning Institute (IPI).
Ms Kelly graduated from UCD in 2002 with a Masters Degree in Regional and Urban Planning. After working with a number of local authorities, she became a Bord Pleanála Inspector in 2008.
Amongst her plans is the preparation of a corporate plan for the Institute which will set out key strategic objectives for the Institute over the next three to five years. Additionally, she intends to “focus on how the planning system can be reformed to encourage the public to become more engaged with the system”. She also hopes to get the public more involved in the country’s planning system.
She added: “I want to look at how the IPI can set up initiatives to better educate the public, including students and children, about how the planning system works and to entice all stakeholders to participate in a more meaningful manner.”
The Irish Planning Institute, founded in 1975, is the professional body representing the majority of professional planners engaged in physical and environmental planning in Ireland. The IPI represents approximately 700 qualified planners in Ireland, north and south.