What to expect

Be a part of sustainable solutions for our planet's future with a Bachelor of Planning from JCU. Learn how to create a balance between lifestyle and sustainability to foster and support communities.

Gain practical work experience with State Government, non-government organisations, and private consultancies. Network with industry players to graduate with a head start.

Opportunities also exist within the degree to experience and apply your knowledge in an international context.

This course is fully accredited by the Planning Institute of Australia.

Honours

Honours is available only to students admitted to the Bachelor of Planning at JCU. High-achieving students may be invited by the College Dean to undertake the Bachelor of Planning (Honours).

Career Opportunities

JCU Planning graduates are qualified for high-demand positions throughout Australia.

Graduates pursue diverse careers which include developing cities, regions, and urban environments to enhance social, environmental, and economic well-being.

Upon graduation, you will be you will be nationally recognised as a planner and for graduate with the Planning Institute of Australia. Membership enables you to access the relevant skills, emerging knowledge and valuable networks as your career develops.

Course learning outcomes

The graduates of James Cook University are prepared and equipped to create a brighter future for life in the tropics world-wide.

JCU graduates are committed to lifelong learning, intellectual development, and to the display of exemplary personal, professional and ethical standards. They have a sense of their place in the tropics and are charged with professional, community, and environmental responsibility. JCU graduates appreciate the need to embrace and be acquainted with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples of Australia. They are committed to reconciliation, diversity and sustainability. They exhibit a willingness to lead and to contribute to the intellectual, environmental, cultural, economic and social challenges of regional, national, and international communities of the tropics.

Graduates of the Bachelor of Planning at James Cook University will be able to:

Integrate and apply a coherent body of theoretical and technical knowledge, with depth in underlying principles and concepts in the discipline of urban and regional planning

Evaluate and reflect on strategic, statutory, professional and ethical frameworks to perform key urban and regional planning tasks, especially in diverse tropical contexts

Review critically, analyse, consolidate and synthesise information and evidence relevant to diverse planning, land use and development contexts

Utilise appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods, technical tools and geographic information systems for data analysis and spatial mapping

Communicate issues, proposals, and actions clearly and coherently to diverse audiences through advanced written and oral English language, numeracy and graphical skills and a range of media

Apply strategic, critical, creative and spatial thinking, and planning knowledge and evidence, to identify, analyse and generate solutions to complex, unpredictable and/or emergent problems

Demonstrate initiative and responsibility in decision making and management of time, risk and conflicts in planning and design projects

Demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively with other planners and, where appropriate, multidisciplinary, culturally diverse, Indigenous, minority and/or special needs groups

Review, evaluate and/or monitor planning tools, processes, proposals and plans

Reflect on current knowledge, skills and attitudes to manage professional learning needs, performance and work readiness, autonomously and in collaboration with others