About

Our mission is to bring together professionals and students to address today’s most pressing issues with actionable takeaways. The conference aims to provide an engaging, purposeful, and collaborative experience that empowers and inspires attendees.

SHIFT+ is a planning conference presented in partnership between Dalhousie School of Planning and the LPPANS – Licensed Professional Planners of Nova Scotia (LPPANS). The collaboration joins the perspectives of professional practice with the academic lens of planners-to-be, to offer a conference committed to learning and looking ahead to what’s next and what’s possible.

LPPANS is the regulatory body responsible for the planning profession in Nova Scotia. The Association was created in 2005 through the Professional Planners Act. Since 2005, the LPPANS has been increasing its capacity to regulate the conduct of members and control the use of the Licensed Professional Planner (LPP) designation.

LPPANS became independent from the Atlantic Planners Institute (API) in November of 2023. This gave LPPANS the opportunity to partner with Dal on a spring conference: Shift+. We hope to make a spring planning conference an annual highlight for our members.

The SHIFT+ conference is designed to facilitate dialogue among students, planners, and the broader community, fostering discussions on innovative ideas, as well as pressing land use and built environment issues across Nova Scotia.