A scheme to harness and use the knowledge and expertise of retired professionals is being piloted by learning developers and managers, Echelon Publishing on behalf of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).

Echelon is retaining former local authority planners as part-time consultants to market RTPI's performance and learning support web site (planningmatters.co.uk/ ) to planning departments and consultancies.

The site consists of bespoke planning modules, a library of generic management skills material, a portfolio of useful web-links and related articles and journals. All are available as bespoke sites for licence for unlimited download.

Updated every two weeks, a legal commentary blog focuses on planning legislation and its interpretation by the Courts and local authorities.

The site also features interactive self-assessments and a personal electronic learning log enabling planners to monitor and record their continued professional development (CPD).

Visits to the site doubled during December 2005 to July 2006, with July seeing over 21,000 RTPI members pay over 75,000 visits to the site compared to 32,000 visits for the same month in 2005.

"Response has been very positive," says Echelon Publishing director, David Hill. "Authority planners seem to respond positively to a sales approach from a fellow professional with insight into the day-to-day issues they face.

"Our consultants in turn are enjoying the opportunity of maintaining their professional network and converting their peers to the benefits of buying CPD from the most informed source available to them, their own professional institute."

Echelon publishes and formats content for professional bodies to help students maintain or develop requisite skills throughout their careers and members to maintain their skills and knowledge.

Professional bodies include the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Institute of Civil Engineers, Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply and Construction Industry Training Board.

David Hill sees potential in using retired professionals to act as consultants to their own profession. "We will be actively seeking the newly retired in future peer-to-peer consulting," he says.

"In our own way, we're making a strike against ageism. It's absurd to lose the skills and experience of retired people when many may want to continue contributing to their profession."

An online 'learning zone' for storing and distributing knowledge and learning that enables RTPI planners to access instant solutions to on-the-job planning issues and to develop their management and planning skills.

Partnering with Echelon provided access to an electronically published portfolio of over 2,000 management solutions. These range from self-development modules and action lists on how to tackle specific business problems to best practice essays and are underpinned by a system for storing and delivering the solutions instantaneously via the web and for tracking usage.

Underpinned by Echelon's learning management system, planningmatters.co.uk provides subscribers with the opportunity to access and download this material as and when they are faced with a business or planning problem.

By offering them the opportunity to set up an electronic learning log, the Institute is also supporting users in tracking and recording their learning for the purpose of continuous professional development (CPD).