Climate Change Driving Planning Changes: Evolving Paradigms of the Current Planning Discipline in Europe

This “positional” paper discusses the changes in Planning driven by
Climate Change, introducing the concept of “Strange Planning change” to address
the “perception” of uncertainties associated with the global phenomenon of Climate
Change and the resulting transformations within the planning field. The paper high-
lights three forms of innovation in climate change-oriented planning: Contents’
Innovation, driven by context and governance, aligning with European priorities;
Procedural Innovation, focused on evaluating and enhancing the sustainability of
investments throughout their life cycles; Analytical-Relational Innovation, which
emphasizes the importance of communicative and participatory processes in gover-
nance, stressing the legitimation of scientific knowledge in the face of uncertainty
and addressing issues of climate justice. The analysis draws on the evolution of plan-
ning in Italy and other EU countries and emphasizes the need for ongoing reflection
on the status, theories, and tools of Planning to better understand the factors driving
transformation and to effectively operationalize future strategies.