SUNSHINE COAST REGIONAL COUNCIL STRATEGIC TOWN PLANNER, COLLEEN KEEGAN, has beaten a host of young planners from across Australia to win a $15,000 scholarship to travel overseas and study the latest exciting developments in outdoor advertising and how it is regulated in a number of international cities.

The scholarship, offered for the second time by the Outdoor Media Association (OMA) together with the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA), will see Colleen travel to Montreal, Buenos Aires and Amsterdam to study how outdoor advertising has been integrated in cities appointed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) City of Design Network. 

Helen Willoughby, the Chief Executive Officer of the OMA said that there was a strong interest in the scholarship this year, which allows applicants to choose their own research project and the cities they think will offer the best outdoor advertising case studies.

“Around the world, outdoor advertising takes on many roles – from traditional posters to animated digital displays, from the subtle to the out there,” Ms Willoughby said.

“The scholarship will give Colleen a fantastic opportunity to broaden her horizons and her career opportunities by building on Australia’s understanding of how outdoor advertising can contribute to cities and communities.

“Cities appointed to the UNESCO City of Design Network must demonstrate a willingness to promote design as a way to improve the quality of life of its residents as well as being a cultural and economic driver for the city. Montreal and Buenos Aires will provide plenty of exciting outdoor advertising case studies which could very well have applications in Australia.

“Even though outdoor advertising currently contributes a large amount of public infrastructure to the community, our members are always looking at ways in which advertising can be integrated more effectively into the environment and to create a sense of place where people like to congregate.”

The PIA’s CEO, Di Jay, said that Colleen’s overseas case studies will add to Australia’s knowledge of how outdoor advertising should be integrated, managed and regulated.

“Colleen’s research will explore how modern outdoor media technologies are integrated into the environments of these ethnically and culturally diverse cities.”

“It is important to understand how regulatory frameworks have been designed in these cities to encourage innovation and creativity as well as being sensitive to the culture and heritage of the city to see if similar provisions would work here in Australia.”

Colleen will travel overseas to conduct her research in 2009 and will present her findings at the PIA/New Zealand Planning Institute Joint National Congress in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2010.