International Mentoring Programme for Urban Planners

Year: 2024–2026  |  Client: Cities Forum (with COAM & partners)  |  Country: Spain (Madrid) & international

Cities Forum created and delivers the International Mentoring Programme for Urban Planners (IMPUP), a structured programme connecting emerging urban planners with experienced mentors to accelerate their professional development and their contribution to sustainable cities. Conceived and run through the Cities Forum Academy, and delivered with partners including the Official College of Architects of Madrid (COAM), the programme responds to a real need: talented planners, particularly from the Global South, often lack access to international mentorship, networks and exposure that can transform their careers and their impact at home.

Our approach

The programme is comprehensive and professionally produced, spanning mentor recruitment, a marketing campaign and landing page, scholarships (becas) to widen access, contracts and programme management, and a full graphic identity. Its cohorts are genuinely international, with participants supported to travel from countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America, evidenced by the invitation and visa support provided to mentees from India, Egypt, Peru and beyond. A centrepiece of the recent edition was an in-person technical trip to Madrid, documented with a professional photo set and 4K video testimonials, bringing mentees together for site visits, learning and networking at the heart of a major European planning community.

What we delivered

Around these activities, Cities Forum built the supporting infrastructure of a serious programme: branded materials and business cards, a dedicated management structure, a WhatsApp Business channel, interviews and lead-generation content, and, as recorded in the firm's own work, the issuance of scores of certificates and the production of dozens of video testimonials capturing participants' experiences.

Impact

The programme strengthens the international community of urban planners, transfers knowledge and experience across generations and geographies, and advances Cities Forum's mission of building capacity for sustainable urban development worldwide. It exemplifies the firm's Academy strand, complementing its consulting and event work with sustained investment in people, and its conviction that the transition to better cities ultimately depends on skilled, connected and well-supported professionals in every region of the world.