Integrating more-than-human approaches in urban planning pedagogy: A case study from Europe

Despite decades of sustainability efforts, urban planning often leads to environmental degradation. This paper questions the anthropocentric assumptions in planning education and advocates for integrating nonhuman perspectives through a more-than-human approach. To embrace the intrinsic value and agency of all actors, the paper approaches more-than-human planning education through three stages: recognition, inclusion, and co-flourishing. As traditional planning curricula prioritize human needs, overlooking the interconnectedness of all life, the paper provides already existing examples of more-than-human planning education by reflecting on the experiences of students and course staff on two Master's level studio courses at Warsaw University of Technology (Poland) and Aalto University (Finland) to learn from the potential of more-than-human education. These courses aimed to strengthen planners' roles in sustainability transformations by recognizing the agency and intrinsic value of nonhumans. The findings suggest that the core aim of planning from a more-than-human perspective is in protecting the planet’s life-supporting systems – not only in protecting individual humans, plants, or animals. This requires a shift from individually focused thinking towards more holistic systemic approaches. Based on this, the paper initiates a discussion on the need for a paradigm shift in planning education to embrace more-than-human perspectives.