Home / Professional Development / IPI Events / Irish Planning Awards 2025 Irish Planning Awards 2025 Through the biennial Irish Planning Awards the Irish Planning Institute recognise and celebrate outstanding achievements in the planning profession. The Irish Planning Awards 2025 are now open for entries with a closing date of 5pm Friday 30 May 2025. These awards aim to: Promote Excellence: Highlight and reward exemplary planning practices that go beyond statutory requirements and demonstrate innovation, creativity, and effectiveness. Encourage Sustainability: Emphasise the importance of climate action, sustainable travel, biodiversity, and the re-use of materials in planning projects. Foster Community Engagement: Acknowledge projects that involve significant public participation and engagement, contributing to the creation of strong, inclusive communities. Support Economic Prosperity: Recognise projects that contribute to a prosperous economy through thoughtful planning and development. Celebrate Heritage and Culture: Honour projects that conserve historical buildings or spaces and create cultural venues, ensuring their sustainable use for future generations. Advance Professional Development: Encourage the growth and development of planning professionals and teams, promoting diversity, inclusion, and the sharing of best practices. Inspire Innovation: Recognise research and innovative projects that contribute to the ongoing development of the planning profession. By achieving these objectives, the Planning Awards aim to inspire and motivate planners, organisations, and communities to strive for excellence and make meaningful contributions to the planning profession across the island of Ireland. Award Categories Plan Making Projects must showcase exceptional plan making that exceeds statutory requirements. Key considerations include climate action, sustainable travel, and active travel. Public participation, deliverability, and implementation are crucial. Commercial Project 2025 Projects must support a prosperous economy while integrating climate action, sustainable travel, and neighborhood integration. The role of planning and the planner should be evident, with clear deliverability and implementation. Urban Regeneration Projects must focus on town renewal and infill developments, revitalising brownfield lands. Key considerations include climate action, sustainable travel, and streetscape integration. Deliverability and implementation are essential. Heritage and Culture Projects must focus on the conservation of historical buildings or spaces, or the development of cultural spaces. Emphasis should be placed on climate action and the sustainable re-use of materials. The planner’s role should be clearly highlighted, with a strong focus on deliverability and implementation. Climate Action Projects must address climate mitigation or adaptation, including for example education, flooding, energy, transport, and green infrastructure. Reducing climate impact is central. Deliverability and implementation should be clear. Biodiversity Projects must prioritise biodiversity protection, aligning with for example the EU Nature Restoration Directive and national biodiversity plans/strategies. Deliverability and implementation are crucial. Housing or Community Project 2025 Projects must strengthen communities and placemaking, addressing local needs and ensuring infrastructure access. Residential developments should offer diverse tenures, mixed use, and high-quality design, with climate action and sustainable travel considerations. Deliverability and implementation are key. Infrastructure Project 2025 Projects must deliver essential infrastructure, considering climate action and biodiversity. Focus areas include energy, water, and transport. Deliverability and implementation should be clear. Research and Innovation Projects must contribute to the planning profession’s development through innovative research by individuals or organisations. Diversity and Inclusion Project 2025 Projects must support minority group inclusion, with evidence of steps taken. The planner’s role should be clear, with a focus on deliverability and implementation. Planning Consultancy and In-House Planning Teams 2025 Projects must celebrate consultancies and in-house teams that support professional development, diversity, and inclusion, focusing on early career planners’ growth. Planning Authorities 2025 Projects must celebrate planning authorities that support professional development, diversity, and inclusion, focusing on early career planners’ growth. President’s Award The President’s Award will be selected from across category entries. Judging A panel of expert judges will shortlist entries this Summer with the short list announced ahead of the ceremony in September. Ceremony The 2025 awards will be presented at black tie gala dinner and ceremony in Clontarf Castle Hotel on Thursday 25 September 2025. Click here for images of the 2023 awards ceremony. Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors including FuturEnergy Ireland and Wave Dynamics Acoustic Consultants. Further sponsors will be announced shortly. To Enter Enter online using the form below or click here. Entry Requirements and Terms and Conditions The closing date for entries is 5pm Friday 30 May 2025. Projects must be undertaken since January 2023 or completed within the past 5 years. The role of the planner must be clearly evident. A written statement (1000-1500 words) addressing category-specific criteria must be provided. Details of successful implementation and delivery must be included. Supporting documentation (maps, imagery, videos) recommended. Projects can be entered into multiple categories. No organisation or individual may win more than one category, except for the President’s Award. The IPI reserve the right to withdraw or expand a category. No physical work to be submitted. Online entries only. The decisions of the Judges and the IPI are final and conclusive. No discussion or correspondence will be entered into. For any queries or to discuss sponsorship opportunities please email [email protected].