In 2022, our team completed a first-of-its-kind national scan of CPAs, “Reimagining Community Planning Academies,” by interviewing more than a dozen local land-use academies and leadership institutes. We identified three primary CPA models with four core operational characteristics. Based on the diversity of their participants, CPAs customize their formats and courses, adopting slightly different goals and programming that reflect participants’ levels of understanding about local policymaking, planning, and land use.
While local government planning departments host and run most CPAs, we found that some nonprofits and community-based intermediaries operate CPAs. The table below outlines the basics of this typology, while our 2022 brief provides more details about the CPAs’ hosts, their funding, how they recruit and deliver their curriculums, and their local impact and network-building efforts.
Three Primary Community Planning Academy Models
| The Classic CPAs | The Land-Use Professionals | The Community Builders | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common hosts | Local government planning agencies | University-affiliated land-use centers or land grant extension offices | Regional or local nonprofit intermediaries; national and community foundations are critical sponsors and partners in this model | |
| Staffing | City planning staff | Research faculty and extension office outreach staff | Nonprofit program managers/coordinators | |
| Participants | Engaged residents, community developers, business owners, civic leaders, etc. | Planning and land-use practitioners, decisionmakers, and other land use and land development professionals | Grassroots residents and organizations new to land use and local government; the next generation of BIPOC community and civic leaders; graduates placed on local boards and commissions | |
| Cohort size and duration | 15–25 participants; twice a year (spring and fall) for 6–10+ weeks per cohort; most are done in person, but we found a few that hold hybrid sessions | 25–50 participants from multiple jurisdictions at annual workshops or conferences; some host 2–3 training workshops in a region; most are in person, some workshops are virtual | Bootcamp: 5–12 grassroots residents new to land use and local government; 5–7 weeks | Fellowship: 5–12 early-career leaders attend academy as part of 9-to-12-month fellowship program |
| Curriculum | Land-use planning and zoning fundamentals; some include capstone PowerPoint presentation | Professional land-use curriculum, training on changes/updates to practices, some qualify for planner certifications | Land use, zoning, and local government fundamentals; some encourage capstone presentations by the participants | Equity, local policymaking, social services, housing, community engagement, and some land development; local practicum project |
| Examples | The City of Baltimore Planning Academy | Michigan State University Citizens Planner Program Mid-Atlantic Planning Collaboration
| Fresno Community Land Use Academy
| Greenlining Institute Leadership Academy (Oakland, CA) Nexus Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (Minneapolis, MN) |
