Europeanizing planning education and the enduring power of national institutions

It is widely observed that planning education in Europe is affected increasingly by various forces of Europeanisation and internationalization. While these trends are not regarded uncritically, very often commentators treat them as inexorable, or it is assumed that individual universities have considerable agency in how they respond. However, closer attention to the literature on Europeanisation shows that nation-states significantly mediate these processes. This is the focus of this paper, which draws on a case study of the creation of an integrated multi-country Masters programme in spatial planning. The analysis shows that national institutions still exert significant force, at least on the structure of the degree programmes that can be created, which universities seeking to Europeanize have to negotiate.