Facilitating community leadership in neighborhoods
programs
Our ongoing programs support education and mentorship through Design Your Neighborhood and UTK College of Architecture + Design, community leadership through TURBO, or Tactical Urbanism Organizers, and pet-friendly spaces through BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™. Read on to learn more.
Design your Neighborhood
Educating the Next Generation of Civic-Minded Leaders
The Civic Design Center’s education program, Design Your Neighborhood, teaches youth how to problem-solve transportation and affordable housing issues in their neighborhoods while building awareness and exposure to the world around them.
Design Your Neighborhood takes form as a project-based curriculum that can be integrated and sustainably embedded into classrooms under state standards.
The goal of the program is aimed at elevating the importance of youth voice. We encourage students to recognize their ability to make change in their neighborhoods, and become civic leaders themselves. For instance, one project that has been popular in classrooms has been around placing art in communities that showcases the students’ perspective of their neighborhood identity.
Interested in learning how Design Your Neighborhood is expanding throughout Middle Tennessee? Learn more about the impacts at youth.civicdesigncenter.org.
Biker goes past a WeGo bus bench with student artwork emphasizing solidarity as a part of their neighborhood’s identity
8th grade English students research, write, and record podcasts about affordable housing
“I owe the Civic Design Center everything. I was a participant in their Design Your Neighborhood program. It kind of set forth my journey into architecture and what I’m doing now. They helped me discover my potential, they helped me discover my creativity, and also my interest in making sure that my community’s voice is heard.”
Tactical urbanism organizers
Sparking Change in Communities With Neighborhood Ideas
The Civic Design Center leads TURBO, which is a Nashville-based community group composed of Tactical URBanism Organizers. Tactical urbanism involves temporary, low-cost projects to improve safety and beautify our streets while informing long-term permanent changes across the city.
Tactical urbanism can be done quickly by community members while avoiding expensive construction costs and city bureaucracy. For instance, a can of paint and a few volunteers can go a long way!
The Design Center takes issues and ideas in the form of a “Work Order”, which locates the neighborhood problems on a map. We work with the people in that specific neighborhood community to analyze the problem, conceptualize a temporary intervention, then plan and execute the installation.
Want to learn more about the program and submit your own work order? Visit turbo.civicdesigncenter.org.
Community members enjoy the new bus stop and public space in East Nashville that was installed in a matter of hours
Progress photo from above of the Wedgewood Houston intersection intervention that was designed by local artist
Funding individual programs helps us maximize our impact
BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™
A Mars Petcare Partnership Program—Designing With Pets In Mind Helps People & Cities Thrive
The Civic Design Center has been a proud BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ program partner since its inception in 2016. Our work is founded and grounded in the Better Cities for Pets™ model and city certifications that we were honored to help create.
Civic Design Center’s role in putting the model to action is multi-faceted and encompasses focused work in areas of design, urban planning, public engagement, advocacy and thought leadership. Our Design With Pets in Mind projects encourage and assist cities, organizations and citizens around the world in efforts to consider, support and welcome pets, pet parents and non-pet owners alike.
Want to learn more about the Better Cities for Pets™ program? Visit bettercitiesforpets.com
Nashville Urban Design Studio
Extending Visions from The Plan Of Nashville & Moving To The Future
The Civic Design Center maintains a strong partnership with the University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Architecture + Design. Through this partnership, the Design Center coordinates various studies throughout the year that allow architecture students to study potential “real world” projects in Nashville.
Every semester the Design Center recruits local stakeholders to review the student projects given their respective expertise. Practicing architects, government planners, engaged developers, and others join the reviews to help the students realize their vision for projects related to the Civic Design Center’s mission.
Explore the projects we’ve worked on together? Visit civicdesigncenter.org/utk
Student architectural review at the Civic Design Center office
Student rendering of a potential infill development along Banker’s Alley in downtown Nashville
