Food for thought about education in planning: insights from Brazil and a brief comparison between the Universidade Federal de Goias and the Politecnico di Milano

This article aims to analyze the teaching of urbanism in Brazil making a comparison with the Italian context. Firstly, we identify the general differences and similarities between the educational approach of Brazil and Italy in the university, then we focus on the courses of urbanism and planning offered by the Federal University of Goias (UFG) and the Polytechnic of Milan (IT). Among the main questions we will try to address there are: does it make sense to speak about urbanism and planning as a specialist profession with a proper education (separated from architecture)? To what extent the internationalization is crucial in the education of urbanism and planning? Considering the recent Covid-19 pandemics, which are the opportunities and the limits of remote teaching (of urban studies)?The research methodology includes bibliographic research, statistics, institutional documents and sectoral regulations, and it is completed with open interviews to local stakeholders.As main result, the article is meant to contribute to the discussion about the teaching of urbanism facing the global challenges of contemporary cities, with a focus on three integrated key-issues: the planner identity and its social role, the internationalization (of the university and the profession), and the digital education.