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This practice report highlights changes made to a first-year unit in an Urban and Regional Planning degree, designed to enhance students' levels of cultural competency. We briefly discuss the history of cultural competency highlighting a lack of application in the field of urban planning. We report on a practical case study where six strategies were developed to enhance students' cultural competency. We reflect on the experience of designing and delivering a unit called Diversity and Cultural Planning. The results from 38 students who completed a cultural competency survey at the start and at the end of term, revealed an increase in overall self-assessment scores of around 12%. As cities become more diverse, this practical case study highlights the need and benefits of enhancing the cultural competency of those who both teach and learn about urban planning.

This paper presents a co-teaching mentor model, which improved the teaching of academics and enhanced student satisfaction and retention. Two research-focused lecturers responsible for first-year units were partnered with a co-teaching mentor to offer guidance on how the content (urban and regional planning) could be delivered more effectively with an emphasis on student engagement and motivation. These two case studies are discussed and the findings demonstrate the effective transfer of teaching awareness and skills through this process. Five key educational theories underpin the substantive changes made to the way that classes were delivered. The applied relevance and transfer of these ideas can be demonstrated in the reflections from the participating staff through a pedagogical analysis of the before and after changes in their teaching practices, and in the improved student evaluation and retention results.