The study of planning examines public processes that improve the quality of decisions affecting the environment.  Responsible planning integrates various private and public interests and identifies viable, workable options.  Planners play a vital role in decision-making processes concerning the future of human settlements, resource management, environmental protection, human health and well-being, economic development, and many other areas.  Ultimately, the work of planners becomes part of, or a catalyst to, public policy.

The major in Natural Resources Planning is designed to provide students with an understanding of the complexities of including the natural and cultural environment in planning decision-making.  The major is intended to address both project-level and large-scale environmental planning issues that occur in developments that have an impact on the natural environment.

The objective of this major is to familiarize students with planning and decision-making in a variety of sectors that include provincial land use planning, environmental assessment, watershed planning and integrated resource and environmental management.  These areas of planning are characterized by complex and intricate questions about how to use natural resources and who should decide.  The multidimensional aspects of environmental management include natural and cultural complexity, different desired futures, value differences, assessment and monitoring tools, and integration methods.  This major emphasizes an understanding of planning in both the substantive realm (natural and social sciences) and the procedural realm (the process of including people in the decision-making process).