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The purpose of the APA California – Northern Awards Program is to encourage quality in planning and increase the public’s awareness of the planning profession through recognizing outstanding achievement in the planning field. Each year, APA Northern bestows Planning Awards to honor the most outstanding efforts in planning throughout APA Northern’s service area. The program honors innovative plans and projects, distinguished APA members, and lay contributors to planning and achievements of the Northern members. Often, our winners ascend to win awards at the Chapter and National levels!

Please note that the APA California Chapter implemented changes to award categories for the 2025 awards, and the associated updates to categories and criteria have been published. Please review the information carefully prior to submitting your application.

• Award Category Descriptions
  • State-Eligible Awards (Attachment A)
  • Northern Special Recognition Awards (Attachment B)
• Criteria for Award Categories (Attachment C)
• Northern Awards Policies (Attachment D)

Please complete the Application Form linked below from January 19 through March 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.

• Complete the online application form here: tinyurl.com/APAAwards2026
• Application Supplemental Template: tinyurl.com/SupplementalTemplate

Note: All dates are subject to change.

1. Northern Awards Application Window—January 19–March 1, 2026
2. Northern Awards Jury Deliberations—March 16–March 5, 2026
3. Northern Awards Winner Notification—April 6, 2026
4. State Awards Application Window—April 15–May 16, 2026
5. Northern Awards Gala – Sept 15, 2026