Key Insights

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  Speakers at the Civic Design Conference receive paid honorariums, professional and subject matter coaching, and participate in an iterative development process.

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  Conference themes focus on reflecting on the past decade of civic design, shifting power structures in design practice, and balancing long-term systemic change with near-term impact.

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  The curation process is identity-blind, ensuring proposals are judged solely on content quality and alignment with themes to promote equity and diversity.

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  Workshops are virtual adaptations of full-day in-person sessions, spread over about 10 hours in multiple segments with ample breaks.

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  The conference is single-track, creating a shared experience and encouraging deep engagement and discussion within the community.

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  Slack and randomized attendee cohorts foster ongoing discussion and deeper connections beyond the sessions, combating the isolation common in virtual conferences.

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  Speakers like Jennifer found the conference a safe space to discuss challenging and often taboo topics like white supremacy culture in design.

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  Contributors come from diverse sectors globally including government, nonprofits, consultancies, and academia, although academia remains underrepresented.

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  The Civic Design Community welcomes submissions from niche areas like public transit and encourages abstracting specific insights to broader applicability.

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  The conference team and community actively support participants facing resistance or isolation to gain confidence and amplify their voices in civic design.

Notable Quotes