Transatlantic Lessons: Developing Planning Degree Programs in Provincial Russia

Abstract

Reflecting five years of experience in an ongoing partnership between the University of Massachusetts and the Pskov Region in Russia, we analyze the process of establishing two degree programs in planning. After describing the project's history, we analyze three key areas of conflict and controversy that the partnership faced: arguments over the role of planning in economies with private markets and democratic governments; differing educational philosophies; and conflicts within the Russian group over interpersonal and bureaucratic politics. While the character of these conflicts had much to do with the design of the specific project, they also raise issues about pedagogy, change, and uncertainty that are likely to be widespread in regions of the former Soviet Union.