UrbanPlan

The Mission

UrbanPlan’s mission is to create a sophisticated level of discourse among local stakeholders involved in land use decisions through the education of tomorrow’s voters, neighbors, community leaders, public officials, and land use professionals so—together—we can create better communities.

What Is UrbanPlan?

UrbanPlan is a realistic, engaging exercise in which participants—high school students, university students, or public officials—learn the fundamental forces that affect development in our communities. Participants experience challenging issues, private and public sector roles, complex trade-offs, and fundamental economics in play when proposing realistic land use solutions to vexing growth challenges.

New Volunteer Interest Form & Training

UrbanPlan Volunteer Training

Volunteer with UrbanPlan in Minnesota

ULI Minnesota members can volunteer as facilitators or city council reviewers in a classroom-based, web-supported program in which high school students learn the roles, issues, trade-offs, and economics relative to urban development.

Please follow the Volunteer Interest Form to become an UrbanPlan volunteer. The training is fully online/on demand and is said to take 60-90 mins to complete. Once you complete the training, you are added to our ULI Minnesota UrbanPlan volunteer roster. We will reach out throughout the year with a link to sign up to fill available volunteer slots.

Please email Rachel Keenan at  [email protected] if you have questions about becoming a trained UrbanPlan volunteer!

 

Check Back for Upcoming UrbanPlan Opportunities

If you are a trained UrbanPlan volunteer and would like to sign up for our upcoming opportunities, please email Rachel Keenan at [email protected] to request the link to sign up for a volunteer slot!

Our UrbanPlan Minnesota co-chairs:

UrbanPlan Minnesota is sponsored by:

UrbanPlan by the Numbers

School or Community Trained Teachers Students
St. Paul Central (2016-2020) 2 305
Roseville Area High School (since 2006) 1 793
 School of Environmental Studies(since 2017) 5 395
Mounds View High School (since 2019) 2 380
City of Edina, Public Officials Workshop (2017) 55
City of Rosemount, Public Officials Workshop (2021) 22
City of Rosemount, Public Officials Workshop (April 2022) 20
Total: 4 Schools & 3 Public Officials Workshops 10 1,760

Roseville Teacher Receives UrbanPlan Award

Steve Bekemeyer was awarded the Minnesota City County Management Association Teacher Achievement Award for his work in fostering an interest in local government through UrbanPlan. For the past several years, MCMA has extended an annual “Teacher’s Achievement Award” to a secondary educator who has demonstrated creativity and commitment in teaching his or her students about local government and active citizenship. The winner is selected by a committee of MCMA members, and public presentation of the award takes place at the annual meeting of the League of Minnesota Cities.

What Students Say About UrbanPlan

I came into this class expecting nothing more than a ton of worksheets and a small short speech at the end. I was wrong. UrbanPlan is a well put together process to work as a team and develop a wonderful project. This was the greatest experience of my high school career.  — Wade Piche

UrbanPlan is a well designed project that is great preparation for other kinds of presentations and proposals in college and in the business world. The financial program could be improved if there were options for specific types of neighborhood retail that would affect the town financially. — Ian Gunsolus

This project has influenced my decision on future professions and college education. With the skills I have gained through UrbanPlan, I can envision myself becoming very successful in the business field. Again, thank you for this rewarding opportunity and I hope you continue to expand this program in the future.  — Katie Cooney