PlanNH Information

Who we are:

Plan New Hampshire, The Foundation for Shaping the Built Environment (Plan NH), is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization formed in 1989.

Plan NH’s  Mission is to foster excellence in  planning and design and development of New Hampshire’s built environment to support a Vision of healthy and vibrant communities in the Granite State.

Our membership includes architects, landscape architects, engineers, planners, building and real estate professionals, lawyers, financial and insurance firms and others with an interest in promoting and supporting environmentally, economically and socially healthy communities.

This diversity of membership brings a unique variety of views and perspectives to our collective approach to shaping New Hampshire’s built environment.

Plan NH champions principles and ideas that balance what we build, where we build and how with

The needs of people – where they live, how they get about, what services are necessary, what they value.

maintaining the “sense of place” of our towns, cities and villages that makes them unique

protecting our air, water, flora and fauna

Plan NH fulfills its mission through promoting Smart Growth and other sustainability principles via

The Community Design Charrette program – an exercise in which local citizens and Plan NH volunteers come together to explore potential solutions to planning or design issues in individual New  Hampshire towns.

Informational programming for members and others interested in sustainable planning and design and development in the communities in which they work and/or live.

Recognition of outstanding examples of work that reflects Plan NH’s Mission through a Merit Awards program

Scholarship/Fellowship programs that support students from New Hampshire who are studying in a field related to the Mission

The Muncipal Technical Assistance Grant Program, offering financial assistance to communities who wish to expand housing options.

Vibrant Villages New Hampshire 

Plan NH cannot do its work alone.  Besides the many, many volunteers in the organization that make our programs happen, Plan NH has good relationships with AIA-NH, the Granite State Landscape Architects, NH Preservation Alliance, NH Housing Finance Authority, AARP, US Green Building Council (NH Chapter), Transport NH, the Endowment for Health, NH Businesses for Social Responsibility  and more.

Plan NH is a member of the NH Center for Nonprofits, Smart Growth America, Strong Towns, the NH Planners Association and the NH Preservation Alliance.