Webinars

View the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) 2023-2024 local design workshop showcase. CIRD design workshops bring together local residents and local leaders from non-profits, community organizations, and government to develop actionable solutions to a specific design challenge. Learn more about CIRD’s workshop process from the perspective of our workshop communities, our design partners at TBD Studio, and others.

Disaster planning – whether for wildfires, floods, or hurricanes – can be an overwhelming process, especially for rural communities and small towns where leaders and resources already may be stretched thin. These two CIRD webinars seek to demystify the planning process by bringing together innovative disaster resiliency and response practitioners who center design, arts, and culture in their work.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Housing Assistance Council (HAC), with To Be Done Studio (TBD), are excited to announce the Request for Applications (RFA) to the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD).

The Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design showcased our 2021-2022 series of local design workshops with a conversation about lessons learned from all four workshop communities. On September 28, 2022 CIRD celebrated the great work that has taken place over the past year, viewed the final design concepts, and heard from the amazing community leaders and CIRD’s design partner, To Be Done Studio.

Join CIRD, Emmy award-winning journalist Emily Schmidt, and Jun-Li Wang, associate director from Springboard for the Arts, for a dynamic presentation on building momentum for your community design projects.

Join CIRD and rural artist Jamie Horter in exploring different models for community engagement and practices for broadening inclusion and participation in your community design projects.

Join the National Endowment for the Arts, the Housing Assistance Council, and To Be Done Studio as we answer your questions and offer guidance on the Request for Applications for the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design. This webinar will inform potential applicants about the details of our program—both the local Design Workshops and the Design Learning Cohort—and guide you through our application so that you can best represent your community’s design needs!

So much uncertainty pervades our world right now. How are small communities adapting to a global pandemic and the calls for racial equity? Join this CIRD conversation featuring speakers working on affordable housing the the rural south, entrepreneurship among Native American tribes, and our CIRD-led initiative to renovate a black church in Ohio's Appalachian foothills.

Design for rural areas often plans to bring people together in place and drive economic development for communities. What is the role of design when stay-at-home orders change the environment we live in? How can organizations who work in design respond to economic distress head-on?

So you’ve got a design idea – now where do you start? CIRD's webinar on predevelopment and fundraising addresses the crucial first steps in starting a design project.

Join the National Endowment for the Arts, buildingcommunityWORKSHOP, and the Housing Assistance Council as we answer your questions and offer guidance on the Request for Applications for the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design. This webinar will inform potential applicants about the details of our program—both the local Workshops and the Learning Cohort—and guide you through our application so that you can best represent your community’s design needs!

On this webinar CIRD staff from the National Endowment for the Arts and Project for Public Spaces will provide an overview of the program and answer questions related to the recently released RFP. You'll learn about the application process, eligibility requirements, and selection criteria.

Whether you are a foodie or a farmer, local food is something to embrace. In small towns, the local food movement is doing more than putting meals on plates—it is nourishing economies by keeping farms vital and downtowns alive. Join the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design for a free hour-long webinar on how farmers’ markets and food co-ops are addressing their local community needs while stimulating downtown development.

Attracting and keeping younger adults is a challenge that many small cities and towns face. Zachary Mannheimer bucked the trend and, after a 22-city road trip, decided to settle in Des Moines, Iowa. Now he’s focused on getting others like him to see the upside of living in smaller places.

Pooling resources and cooperating across town boundaries is a great way for rural communities to gain efficiencies and improve quality of life. Join our free 60-minute webinar to hear how small towns are working together to support each other.

Co-hosted with the Citizens' Institute on Rural Design™ and Orton Family Foundation, this free webinar showcases rural communities that have effectively engaged diverse voices in shaping community design projects. Speakers shared how they identified and engaged diverse perspectives, who they partnered with, and what doors have opened as a result.

The US Department of Agriculture Rural Development is a program that can offer a variety of resources to rural communities. Farah Ahmad from the USDA explains the technical assistance and financing opportunities provided by the agency. She shares examples of communities that have received funding through USDA, and offers ideas for how any rural community can access these resources.

No project will succeed if no one knows about it! Listen to this free CIRD webinar to hear about how to form clear goals for your community that will help inform a successful communications plan.

Many rural communities and small towns are rediscovering their recreational and scenic assets and are looking for ways to leverage these assets to boost economic development and community pride. This webinar will highlight great examples of rural trail projects that link people to place and reconnect the human and natural environments--providing access to nature and preserving sensitive ecosystems, while promoting local economic and cultural assets. This free 60-minute webinar is co-sponsored by

Is your downtown succumbing to vacant and decaying historic buildings? To combat downward momentum, Rick Hauser, mayor of Perry, New York, and owner of In.Site: Architecture developed Main Street, LLC, a community-based for-profit development corporation. Main Street, LLC recognizes the quantitative and qualitative benefits of reversing neglect and urges people to “put their money where their house is.”

On April 2, we hosted a Program Information Webinar. CIRD staff from the National Endowment for the Arts and Project for Public Spaces provided an overview of the program and answered questions related to the recently released RFP.

You’ve got the great ideas and a plan for moving forward, but let’s face it: your community lacks the cash it needs to make it real. This webinar will focus on key sources of funding (including federal funding, grants, and crowdsourcing) and resources to help make design and development projects in small towns, rural areas, and neighborhoods happen. We’ll also cover strategies for creating successful funding pitches and positioning your project for funding applications.

After a design or planning process, most communities end up with scores of potential actions. How do you prioritize dozens of competing options? How do you get some cool stuff done without breaking the bank or exhausting your list of volunteers? Easy: start with the petunias. That’s one key lesson from the “Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper” framework.

In 2012, Barbara Walters asked four billionaires for their Top 20 Secrets of Success. The #2 secret? "Always be True to Yourself." It turns out that applies to communities, too. Listen to national thought leader Ed McMahon of the Urban Land Institute for an inspirational conversation: Ed will share this and other secrets of successful communities that he has gleaned over the course of decades working in towns across the country

If you want your project to truly succeed, it must reflect the vision and values of the community. But that’s easier said than done. Listen to this webinar to confirm and deepen your understanding of a community’s vision and values, learn how to use that understanding to inform design projects and a range of issues facing communities today, and hear strategies from folks who have succeeded in designing for the vision and values of their community.