MPCA Corner

The Maryland Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA MD) and the Maryland Planning Commissioners Association (MPCA) announce a Call for Session Proposals for the 2024 joint planning conference, to be held October 20 through 22 at the Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Maryland.  

Across the state, citizen planning boards work with professional practitioners and state and local planning departments to tackle 21st century planning challenges and to implement change. This year, APA MD and the MPCA have joined forces to celebrate the collaborative work of citizen and professional planners over the course of this two-and-a-half-day event. 

We hope you will be inspired by this year’s theme:

Two Tracks, One Destination: Citizen and Professional Planners Working Together to Shape Sustainable Development Across Maryland

We aim to address current issues, trends, challenges, and solutions that are shaping the work of professional and citizen planners, and we need YOU to make that happen. Attendees will include planning commissioners, board of zoning appeals members, historic district commissioners, professional planners, Maryland county and municipal staff, and planning students.  

We encourage you to propose new ideas, new presentation formats, solutions, tools, interactive sessions, and mobile workshops that engage our state and/or the Howard County landscape.  

Submissions should identify a presentation team (one to five people), focus on a topic that expands on this year’s theme, be formatted for either 15 minutes, 45 minutes, or 1.5 hours, and propose an engaging presentation.  

We also invite participants to consider presentingin our Lightning Round sessions, where they join others in a fast-paced series of entertaining 15-minute mini-presentations. Note that the 15-minute Lightning Round proposals will be combined with other Lightning Round proposals into a session of 90 minutes (15 minutes per speaker/topic, 5 speakers maximum). 

If you believe your session could qualify for AICP CM credits, please note this so we can work with you to verify eligibility. 

Priority Proposal Areas: 

• Collaborative Planning Between Professional and Citizen Planners 
• Land Use 
• Zoning Reform 
• Transportation 
• Historic Preservation 
• Balancing Conflicting Priorities  
• Climate Change & Resiliency  
• Housing 
• Aging 
• Sustainability 
• Tourism 
• Working with the Public 
• Creative Placemaking 
• Equity Planning 
• Community Planning Academies  

Proposal Guidelines: 

• Acceptable session formats include a panel presentation, facilitated discussion, or workshop. Note: Sessions including only a PowerPoint presentation followed by questions are discouraged. 
• Sessions should be as interactive as possible. 
• Sessions should support the conference theme. Key concepts can focus on new ideas, lessons learned, best practices, challenges, and opportunities encountered and how they were or should be addressed. 
• If applicable, session topics shall meet the AICP guidelines to be eligible for CM credit. All CM activities must (a) meet a planning-related objective, (b) be unbiased and non-promotional, and (c) communicate a clearly identified educational purpose or objective.  In addition, the subject matter must be in an appropriate depth and level for the typical AICP member. 
• The session chair/facilitator will serve as the key contact for the session, must be the person who submits the proposal, and is responsible for communicating all session information and details with the session presenters. 
• Should a proposal be chosen, specific information must be provided, including an abstract of the presentation, presenter names, titles, and professional bios. These details will be included in the conference program exactly as submitted. 

Proposal Requirements: 

• Session title, abstract, and full description. The full description must include a content outline describing the main theme and goals of the session. If there is more than one presenter, explain what each presenter will discuss. Please be as descriptive and thorough as possible. Remember that the content needs to have wide applicability, comparative perspectives, and preferably an analysis of lessons learned.  The full description shall be no more than 500 words. The abstract should not exceed 75 words.   
• Names, titles, and biographies of anticipated presenter(s) (no more than five). The biographies should not exceed 100 words, including presenters’ education and major work accomplishments relevant to the session topic. Biographies should be written in the third person and include full sentences. 
• Indicate the type of session format for which you are submitting a proposal. (Panel discussion, facilitated discussion, workshop, or mobile workshop). 
• Indicate intended audience for the session as professional planners, citizen planners, or both. If the selected audience is citizen planners or both, the proposal must describe how the topic relates to the specific work of planning commissions or boards. 
• Audio-visual/electronic data needs 
• Include name, title, “X” handles, biography and contact information for session chair/facilitator, preferred name/nickname, title, and pronouns. 
• Any information provided may be shared on the APA MD and MPCA website and social media outlets. 

Selection Criteria: 

Proposals will be reviewed by the APA MD/MPCA Joint Conference Committee (Committee) and evaluated with the following criteria: 

• Connection/applicability to the conference theme and/or location (e.g. Ellicott City, Columbia, Howard County in general) 
• Originality and quality of the proposed session 
• Presentation of innovative concepts, tools, and/or best practices 
• Inclusion of proposal requirements described above 
• Diversity of presenters and the inclusion of multiple perspectives 
• Applicability to multiple regions/jurisdictions  
• Extra consideration will be given to proposals that: 
  • Include at least one citizen planner or planning commissioner on the panel 
  • Specifically address the work of citizen planners or the collaboration between citizen and professional planners
• Bonus! Utilizing an interactive and crowd-engaging format 

The Committee will evaluate a variety of proposals, some of which may be similar, and will seek balance among topics and relevance to the conference theme. Proposals of equal merit cannot in all instances be selected when the result would be an imbalance in the conference’s overall coverage of topics, audiences, and regions represented.   

Please be advised that presenters are encouraged to attend and participate in other conference sessions; however, they are expected to register and pay to attend sessions other than their own.  

Submission Deadlines and Details:  

The deadline to submit your proposal is May 31. The Committee will notify proposal submitters (session chairs) of its decision no later than July 1.  The Committee will only accept proposals which are submitted electronically to contact@apamaryland.org.  

Questions? Please send inquiries to contact@apamaryland.org.  

About APA MD 

APA Maryland is committed to advancing the planning profession and supporting its members across the state, to foster collaboration, provide education, and recognize excellence within our community. Through effective communication, inclusive programming, and opportunities for professional growth, APA Maryland strives to empower planners at all stages of their careers. 

About the MPCA 

The MPCA is a statewide, nonprofit educational organization of municipal, county, and regional planning commissioners and boards of zoning appeals members. MPCA members work to improve the quality of life for all Marylanders through planning, environmental protection, historic preservation, and growth management.