University of Venda (Univen)

The Mission of the University of Venda is “To be at the centre of tertiary education for rural and regional development in Southern Africa”. As a comprehensive institution, the University of Venda offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in fields of study that are responsive to the development needs of the Southern African region, using appropriate learning methodologies and research.

The mission of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning is to deliver knowledge and inculcate skills in urban and regional planning to achieve excellence in academic learning, innovation in research and publication, and in the critical engagement of community and society in redressing the disadvantages, inequities and imbalances of past development while at the same time engaging in development planning futures and fore-sighting intelligence.

The Department is situated within the School of Environmental Sciences. The Department addresses the professional concerns of Urban and Regional Planning, linking knowledge and action in ways that improve public and private development decisions which affect people, places, cultures and the environment with a departmental focus on small to medium sized centres and rural development.

The restructured courses at the Department focus on a theoretical understanding of urban, regional and rural planning, practical and technical links with both urban and metropolitan areas, the immediate countryside and small to medium sized town environments as the laboratories for study and studio exercises. The Department also maintains links with active professional planners in both public and private sectors (locally and internationally) through the regional chapter of the South African Planning Institute (SAPI), African Association of Planning Schools (AAPS), Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), International Network of Appropriate Technology (INAT), Urban Environmental Association, Institute of Housing Studies (IHS), International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD) etc and through staff and student participation, collaboration and partnership at both local, regional and international congresses, conferences, symposiums and workshops.

List of SACPLAN accredited planning qualifications currently being offered:

Qualification	SACPLAN Registration Category	Notes
Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning (BURP)	Professional Planner