The Master of Environmental Planning and Design (MEPD) program in the College of Environment and Design at the University of Georgia is a professional graduate program with an emphasis on a studio based integrative planning process grounded in environmental and ecological principles. The purpose is to improve the lives of people and ecosystem health in regions and urban centers, incorporating cultural, historic and design elements, while engaging community process to identify and plan for long range city and regional future goals. A degree in the MEPD program prepares students for professional careers working in public planning agencies, private firms with city and regional planning departments as a professional planner or in non-profit agencies. The program also offers preparation for future doctoral work in city and regional planning. We welcome students from a wide variety of undergraduate degree programs who are interested in a working with local communities, civic leaders, public agencies and design teams to engage in a democratic planning process. Situated in the College of Environment and Design, which houses well established and highly rated graduate programs in landscape architecture and historic preservation, the MEPD program offers wide ranging opportunities for collaborative efforts and program concentrations. In addition, students can take course work throughout the University of Georgia in fields such as geography, real estate, anthropology, sociology and ecology to widen their knowledge base and operate within an interdisciplinary framework.