Conor Norton

Conor is Head of the School of Architecture, Building and Environment. He is a leading, practicing academic with professional qualifications in urban planning and urban design. He has worked in both the public and private sectors in Ireland and abroad. He has acted in the role of advisor and consultant to government agencies and departments in Ireland and has framed a range of national guidelines and best practice manuals in areas such as Flood Risk Management, Local Area Planning, Unfinished Residential Development the Design of Urban Roads and Streets. He has been a member of a number of National Advisory Groups including Planning Reform, Town Centres First, Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, Marine Planning and the Construction Sector Group of DPER. He has directed research for national best practice in the area of Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment for the Energy Sector in Ireland and recommendations for Plan-making in the Marine Spatial Planning in Ireland for the Environmental Protection Agency. He has recently focused on the area of landscape character and the integration of transport and urban design.  He has also consulted to the World Bank on the spatial planning systems at national and sub-national level. He was a member of the management committee of two European COST Actions investigating the potential of wind energy in the urban environment, and governance in marine spatial planning. He is currently supervising PhD candidates in a broad range of thematic areas. He is active in the professional sphere, and was President of the Irish Planning Institute (2020-2022), and Chair of the Royal Town Planning Institute Ireland (2015).