Educational Institutions Deemed Key to Developing Resilient Communities

Dean of the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of Technology (UTech) Jamaica, Professor Garfield Young, says educational institutions play a key role in developing resilient communities.

Addressing a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’, held ahead of World Town Planning Day (WTPD) 2023 on November 8, Professor Young noted that “as we contemplate the role of educational institutions in building resilient communities and cities using smart solutions, I think it’s quite appropriate that we include in that conversation the institutions that seek to build capacity”.

One such is the UTech which, through its Faculty of the Built Environment, offers 11 undergraduate and five graduate programmes in areas such as architecture, land surveying, geographic information sciences, quantity surveying, construction, engineering, structural engineering, real estate management, and valuation.

“The Faculty trains these professionals in a unique space [and provides them with a] wide range of built environment disciplines that are important if we are to achieve sustainable development, particularly Goal #11, which seeks to develop sustainable communities and cities,” Professor Young noted.

He told JIS News: “In the 1970s, a study was carried out in the Anglophone Caribbean by the Commonwealth Association of Planners which confirmed that there was a particular need for planning professionals in the region based on projections for Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana and The Bahamas.”

The projections, Professor Young said, revealed that by 1995 there would be a significant shortfall of planning professionals in these jurisdictions.

“In response to this, the then College of Arts, Science and Technology (CAST) developed a three-year ‘Physical Planning Technology Programme’ in 1977, which primarily focused on providing training for middle-level planning personnel for Caribbean countries, with a strong focus on the Anglophone Caribbean,” he informed

However, with the institution’s transition from CAST to UTech between 1999 and 2000, they were given a “new mandate to offer higher degrees to prepare, not just for the middle-management level but for the higher-level management in all of the sectors that we represent”, according to Professor Young.

Consequently, the course of study review led to a four-year Bachelor of Science Degree in Urban and Regional Planning, which offers an interdisciplinary approach to the physical and socio-economic aspects of the planning processes.

To ensure that students are industry-ready, they are exposed to important theoretical knowledge as well as experiential learning.

“To date, the course has graduated over 500 urban planners, who are employed in various important decision-making roles in regional institutions, local government, institutional and central government across the Caribbean,” Professor Young said.