In which, to mark International Women's Day, the Planner team chats with Anna Sabine, MP for Frome and East Somerset, about the failure to mention women's safety in the draft National Planning Policy Framework for England.

During the course of our conversation, Anna and Laura (The Planner's news editor) discuss why women's safety in public spaces is such a pressing issue; Anna laments the absence of joined-up thinking between government departments which have failed to relate the government's violence again women and girls strategy with the planning for the built environment; and the team discuss eswhat planning policies devised with women and girls in mind might look like.

Anna then talks about her experiences as a new MP and Laura draws attention to the Planner's newly published Women of Influence list.

After nearly eight years as the RTPI's chief executive, Dr Victoria Hills is moving on at the end of December. For episode 6 of PlannerPod, we caught up with the outgoing chief to look back on her time at the helm, her successes, her disappointments and her hopes for the institute and for planning. It's a relaxed and candid interview that digs beneath the surface of what drives Victoria and how she's grown into the role, including the revelation of the 'Hillsey gene' and ideas for a t-shirt for planners.

We also catch up with outgoing RTPI Young Planner of the Year, Frances Keenan, who chats about what the young planner of the year actually does, how she's balanced it with work and her advice for her successor.

Presenters: Simon Wicks, Laura Edgar

Guests: Dr Victoria hills, Frances Keenan

Key moments:

00:00 | Intro | Simon Wicks

01:27 Planner picks: Planning for prisons | Cover art | Children's play

04:10 Interview: Dr Victoria Hills | Reasons for leaving | Highlights and successes | Any regrets? | Motivation | Growing into the role | future of planning | Next steps for the RTPI | Victoria's new role

39:03 Interview: Frances Keenan | Being Young planner of the Year | Highlights | Balancing the role with work | Advice for her successor

48:50 Wrap-up and Women of Influence reminder

49:50 Close

In which, The Planner team chats with planners – and social media content creators – Mahsa Ige and Nouvella Kusi about how the planning profession can use social media to talk about planning, urbanism and development with a wider audience.

To coincide with the launch of the RTPI's It Takes Planners & You campaign, we delved into the use of social media platforms to expand the planning profession's reach and to improve its communication with the people who are most affected by planning projects and decisions – the general public.

Over the course of this discussion Mahsa and Nouvella share their thoughts on:

• How to get started
• Their approach to creating engaging content
• How they're building an audience
• Dealing with negativity
• The impact maintaining a social media channel on them and their working lives

You can find Mahsa and Nouvella on Instagram at

• @theurbanplan_her (Nouvella)
• @urbanistonamission (Mahsa)