High school urban planning internship and research fellowship
This high school urban planning internship lets students in Grades 9 to 12 study the streets and open spaces around their own home, with a mentor who reviews each map and plan. You record bins, trees and footpaths, ask neighbours what they need and write a short plan for your area.
For school students taking Geography, ESS or Global Politics who want to understand how streets and neighbourhoods are planned and how they could work better. Online, with field work near home and a parent or guardian present at every self-guided activity. The fellowship is paid because every student receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders.
Why urban planning matters for sustainability
A city plan decides where homes, roads, drains, markets and parks go, and people live with those decisions for decades. When a lane has no place for waste collection, rubbish piles up on the corner. Streets with few trees get hotter, and drains choked with plastic overflow in the monsoon. Urban planners look at problems like these together and work out what to fix first, with the people who live there.
Earth5R works in 150+ Indian cities. Its teams run door-to-door household surveys and help housing societies segregate and compost their waste. At its street hackathons, citizens propose their own climate solutions. The Earth5R app records survey and field data with photos and geo-tags. As a fellow you use the same tools to study a small area near your home.
This work links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 11, Sustainable cities and communities and Goal 13, Climate action.
Available projects in this high school urban planning internship
Each project fits around school work and takes place near home. Your mentor shapes the final project with you.
Bin and black spot map
Walk your lane or housing colony with a parent, record bins and garbage black spots on the Earth5R app, and suggest where a new bin or collection point would help most.
Shade and green cover map
Map trees, parks and open plots near your home, compare your map with online satellite images, and suggest where new planting would give shade to footpaths and homes.
A safer walk to school
With a parent, record footpaths, crossings and shade along your route to school from the pavement, ask classmates how they travel, and propose a safer and cooler walking route.
Ideas from the neighbourhood
Ask family, neighbours and your housing society what they would change about the area, sort their ideas by cost and urgency, and turn them into a short plan.
What you do in the field
- Walk your area with a parent and record what you see
- Run short surveys with family and neighbours
- Make maps from geo-tagged photos and online maps
- Read the development plan or ward map for your area
- Sort residents’ ideas into clear priorities
- Present your plan in a research conversation
Skills you build
On a high school urban planning internship, you collect your own data near home with a parent or guardian, using the Earth5R app and data forms. Earth5R checks the data on its platform before it goes into your project report.
How a high school urban planning internship fits your school programme
For IB, IGCSE, CBSE and ICSE students. Your school decides what counts towards its own requirements.
IB CAS
Mapping waste spots or shade with your housing society and sharing a plan with residents can form a CAS project with a service element. Your CAS coordinator decides.
Extended Essay and IA
A neighbourhood study built on your own maps and survey data can support the Geography IA or an Extended Essay in Geography or ESS. Your supervisor approves the topic.
MYP, IGCSE and CBSE projects
A local mapping and survey project fits the MYP Personal Project and fieldwork in IGCSE, CBSE and ICSE Geography, if your school agrees.
University applications
A plan built from your own maps and surveys gives you a clear example of studying a real place, which you can describe in a personal statement.
How the high school urban planning internship works
Every student moves through four phases. Your mentor checks each phase before you move on, and sessions pause during board exams.
Observe and Map
Go into the field near home, with a parent or guardian, and collect primary data for your project in Urban Planning.
Frame and Design
Find the root cause in your data and frame a problem worth solving, with your mentor.
Model
Build a working model, analysis or design for your solution, and test it.
Build and Deploy
Put your solution to work, measure the result and publish a verified record on earth5r.org.
Along the way you take part in research conversations with professors at MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and other universities, and ask your own questions. See how FIELDWORK works.
Where this can take you
University courses this leads to
- BA or BSc in Urban Planning
- BA in Urban Studies
- BSc in Geography and Planning
- BS in Urban and Regional Studies
- BES in Planning or Environmental Studies
Careers in this field
- Urban planner
- Transport planner
- Climate resilience officer for a city
- Urban researcher
- Housing and community development officer
Universities to aim for in Urban Planning
Planning admissions tutors look for students who have studied a real place and can explain what should change there and why. A high school urban planning internship with FIELDWORK gives you maps, survey data and a plan your mentor reviewed, on a verified profile that admissions teams can check. Students use a high school urban planning internship to build a record of real work for applications to universities like these.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
USA · Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP)
MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning offers a Bachelor of Science in Planning and a joint degree in urban science and computer science. Undergraduates use economics, policy analysis and urban design to tackle social and environmental problems, with subjects such as Infrastructure Design for Climate Change.
University of California, Berkeley
USA · Department of City & Regional Planning (DCRP), College of Environmental Design
Berkeley’s Department of City & Regional Planning teaches the BA Urban Studies and a minor in city planning. Its mission is to improve equity, the economy and the environment in neighbourhoods, cities and regions. Research areas include Climate Solutions and Equity + Social Justice.
USA · Department of City and Regional Planning, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP)
Cornell’s Department of City and Regional Planning offers undergraduates the Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Studies. Students and faculty work on climate adaptation, sustainable transport, affordable housing and environmental justice, and they study cities with GIS, urban data analytics and modelling.
USA · Urban Studies Program, School of Arts and Sciences
Penn’s Urban Studies major mixes social sciences with fields such as city planning and public policy. Students do a fieldwork placement at an urban organisation and write a senior research paper from original data. The programme aims to support environmental sustainability and address climate change.
University College London (UCL)
UK · The Bartlett School of Planning
The Bartlett School of Planning teaches undergraduate degrees on how cities are formed, planned, designed and managed. Its urban planning programme covers how change is managed across built and natural environments. School research and events cover transport and infrastructure, housing, regeneration and sustainable development.
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
UK · Department of Geography and Environment
LSE’s Department of Geography and Environment teaches undergraduates in economic and urban geography, urban planning, environmental social science and climate change. Field trips give students research skills outside the classroom. Research groups study environment and urbanisation, and planning and development.
UK · School of Geography and Planning
Sheffield’s School of Geography and Planning offers the MPlan Urban Planning and a BA in Geography and Planning to school leavers. It describes its staff as experts in social justice, environmental change and urban sustainability. A BA in Global Sustainable Development is also taught here.
Canada · School of Planning, Faculty of Environment
Waterloo’s Bachelor of Environmental Studies in Planning is a co-op programme in the Faculty of Environment, with paid work terms. Students learn planning governance, design, land economics and GIS. Specialisations include Environmental Planning, Urban Design, and Social Planning and Community Development.
Australia · Bachelor of City Planning (Honours), School of Built Environment
UNSW’s Bachelor of City Planning (Honours) covers land use, urban design, planning law, transport and environmental management. A first-year course on sustainability and environment sets the base. Students spend a practice year working in government, consultancies or NGOs, then complete a plan-making studio and a thesis.
The University of Hong Kong (HKU)
Hong Kong · Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies, Department of Urban Planning and Design
HKU’s Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary, studio-based degree from the Department of Urban Planning and Design. Students learn how public policy, urban management and design shape city life. They build spatial analysis skills to study the urban economy, society and environment.
This list is for guidance. These universities offer undergraduate study in Urban Planning. Earth5R has no admissions arrangement with them, and admission decisions rest with each university. Students get help researching universities, scholarships and applications, depending on the programme.
What your fellowship fee pays for
An internship fellowship at Earth5R is time and attention from senior researchers and leaders. Each part below takes staff time and resources that we set aside for every fellow.
Live mentoring with experts
One-to-one mentoring in most fellowships, with regular check-ins on your project.
Dialogues with global researchers
Academics from international universities and renowned scientists, who answer your questions and discuss your work.
Support in the field
Guidance while you collect data and work on your project in the field.
References for your next step
References when you apply for jobs, higher studies and research programmes.
Your work, hosted for life
Your work and data stay on Earth5R’s website and servers for life, where universities and employers can check them.
Time from senior people
Each fellow receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders, set aside for them.
Fee details available on request.
Choose your fellowship
The Multi-Year Fellowship can run from Grade 9 to Grade 12, with more scope each year.
The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details available on request.
High school urban planning internship: common questions
What does a student do in this high school urban planning internship?
You pick a small area near home, such as your lane or housing colony. You map its waste points, trees or footpaths, ask residents what they need and write a short plan with your mentor.
Do I need GIS or mapping software?
No. Many fellows start with paper maps, phone photos and online maps. Your mentor shows you how to put geo-tagged field data on a map, and students who already know GIS can use it for deeper analysis.
Will my child have to walk along busy roads?
No. Field walks stay on footpaths and inside housing colonies, parks and school grounds, with a parent or guardian present. Students observe roads and crossings from a safe spot and never stand in traffic.
Is the high school urban planning internship paid?
Yes. FIELDWORK is a paid, mentored programme. The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details are available on request.
Can my child do this high school urban planning internship online?
Yes. Mentoring sessions run online, and field work takes place near where you live.
Is a parent or guardian present during field work?
Yes. A parent or guardian is present at every self-guided field activity. Online sessions are for students.
Does FIELDWORK pause during board exams?
Yes. Sessions pause during board exams, so the fellowship fits around school work.
What do students get at the end?
A certificate, a letter of recommendation, a project report and a verified profile on earth5r.org, where universities can check the work.
Related subjects for school students
Already at university? See the Urban Planning internship fellowship for university students.
Apply for a FIELDWORK fellowship in Urban Planning
This high school urban planning internship is for students in Grades 9 to 12. Work on a live Earth5R project with a mentor, take part in research conversations with global researchers, and build a verified record of your work. Fee details available on request.
