Community service is the third function of the Urban and Regional Planning Center for Graduate Studies, as it is the most prominent scientific edifice of the mother university and educational institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and comes after teaching and scientific research. It is a professional humanitarian service that aims to raise the efficiency of societies and transfer knowledge and raise the efficiency of education through various patterns of community work and provide an environment that stimulates excellence and intellectual creativity in various fields.
Among these services provided by the center is the library
The center’s library provides various services to all professors, researchers and students, starting with lending and searching for sources, references, theses and projects, in addition to providing a reading room and paper and electronic indexes that facilitate research operations under the supervision of employees specialized in library work and management.
Laboratories
The center has a practical laboratory that translates their theoretical studies into practical applications on land uses and the study of its soil and nature in preparation for preparing an urban housing plan.. The GIS laboratory or the Geographic Information Systems laboratory, the most recent applied laboratory at the level of centers in Iraq, depends on analyzing maps and studying the geography of urban land under the supervision of professors specialized in geographical studies. Thus, the GIS laboratory has become a station for holding courses for professors and students, in addition to other courses with relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Housing, Municipalities, Environment, Planning, and others.
The Journal
In the context of serving the community, the center has been keen to publish solid scientific research through its peer-reviewed scientific journal (Plan and Development). This journal is intended for professors, researchers, and students from different specializations to publish in it for the purposes of promotion and scientific publication. The journal embodies the scientific movement of the center and its intellectual and cognitive outputs, which have become a rich source for everyone.
Sports and Student Activities
The center’s students have a share of the services that the center provides within its educational curriculum, such as design competitions that reflect their unique design skills and imagination in urban planning, in addition to the center’s support for student activities such as holding football matches between professors and students, and between students themselves, and urging them to participate in student sports or arts organized by the university presidency such as chess and backgammon competitions, and art exhibitions such as drawing, sculpture, music and other arts.
The Urban and Regional Planning Center for Graduate Studies is a window of cognitive and community services and a gateway to the slogan adopted by the mother of universities, which is (the university in the service of society).
