In 2016 Native Land became a partner of Urban Land Institute’s UrbanPlan UK, the school initiative that encourages young people to consider a career within the built environment. UrbanPlan is a realistic, engaging, and academically demanding classroom-based programme in which students learn about the fundamental forces that affect urban regeneration. Since UrbanPlan was launched in the UK in Autumn 2015 it has reached over 60 schools and over 1500 pupils.

This year Native Land facilitated the programme in two schools in the UK, both of which are located within two of the London Boroughs in which we operate. In November 2016, five Native Land employees assisted in running the workshop at Holland Park School, which is situated on the neighbouring site to our Kensington development, Holland Park Villas.

In March 2017, we were able to bring this programme to Charter School in Southwark, the borough in which our head office, two developments as well as some of our affordable housing schemes are located. Both workshops presented a unique opportunity for Native Land to help the A-level students think about urban regeneration and the different factors at play when considering the redevelopment of a substantial site.

UrbanPlan has been running successfully in high schools in the US for over ten years – reaching over 27,000 students and enabling more than 1,500 ULI members to share their experiences in land use. It brings the urban environment to life for young people through a series of interactive workshops and team working challenges.

The workshops were thoroughly enjoyed by both Native Land volunteers and the students and we look forward to working alongside UrbanPlan in the coming year to bring the workshop to two further schools.

To find out more: http://urbanplanuk.uli.org/urbanplan-uk/