Education

We engage the community in decision-making and help teach the value and benefits of urban planning and design.

Community Engagement

Seeing the big picture, as well as the details, is important to us. We seek out community input on every project, because you know your neighborhood best.

We partner with community leaders, neighborhood organizations and City of Toledo representatives to identify opportunities for design and planning improvement.

Design Charrettes

Our collaborative approach provides opportunities to engage the community in decision-making and teach of the value of urban planning and design. Throughout a project, we often host public design charrettes to gain a community perspective on a sustainable plan.

Collaborative Power

Charrettes are one way we collaboratively work through a problem. These short, intense public work sessions bring together the TDC and the community as we sketch ideas, explore possibilities and uncover a wealth of shared knowledge connected to the project at hand. Through workshops like this, the TDC becomes a hub for community engagement and mobilization.

Internships & Mentoring

We take pride in helping develop the next generation of urban planning and design professionals.

We routinely offer hands-on paid co-op and internship opportunities to university students studying in the field. We enjoy the opportunity to serve as mentors to college-age planning and design professionals in the region.

Experiential Learning

Education is a primary focus of the Toledo Design Center. Funded by AIA-Toledo, our certified Intern Development Program qualifies for IDP credits toward registration and provides opportunities to architecture and planning students for hands-on learning and summer employment. In addition, the TDC engages high school, college students and the greater community with planning awareness programs.

Benefits of a TDC Internship
  • Gain hands-on experience before graduation
  • Get involved in Toledo's professional design community
  • Take an active role in planning and design projects
  • Learn from professionals with decades of field experience
  • Engage the greater Toledo community in design charrettes
  • Identify planning and design challenges and propose sustainable solutions
  • Present creative solutions in professional settings
  • Educate and advocate diverse audiences on the value of planning and design

"My internship at the Toledo Design Collective allowed me to invest in a community that I did not grow up in and see the real impact that long term urban planning can have in neighborhoods."

"I am now the VP of Construction and Planning at the Toledo Zoo—a job I never knew existed prior to moving to Toledo, in a city that I did not have on my radar prior to my internship. TDC gives young professionals opportunities to make an impact that's larger than themselves, draws people to and back to northwest Ohio, and gives them the skills to run large charrettes, make presentations and produce work that communicates complex ideas in simple forms. Continuing to support the TDC as a board member has given me more opportunities to connect to neighborhoods and partners in the Old South End, Central business district, the Vistula neighborhood and Toledo as a whole."

Jennifer Van Horn | Vice President, Construction and Planning, Toledo Zoo | 2013 TDC Intern

Intern Alumni

To date, the TDC has helped launch the careers of more than 30 individuals.

  • Max Merritt, Cincinnati, 2020
  • Guillermo Pacheco, Bowling Green, 2020
  • Richard Michael Pieper, Bowling Green, 2020
  • Anthony Gustely, Cincinnatti, 2020
  • Drew Demarsh, Cincinnati, 2019
  • Xu Zhu, Cincinnati, 2019
  • Lisa Karcher, Ball State, 2018
  • Elizabeth Ellis (AmeriCorps), Kent State, 2017-19
  • MacGregor Driscoll, Cleveland State, 2017
  • Nazia Tarannum, Miami, 2017
  • Jason Werner, Cincinnati, 2017
  • Jeremy Mizak, Detroit Mercy, 2016-17
  • Nick Carlson, Miami, 2016
  • Sofie Vermeusm, Miami, 2016
  • Sarah Yeo, Miami, 2016
  • Vincent Gregory, Miami, 2015
  • Lauren Mitro, Miami, 2015
  • Kelsey Krysp, Bowling Green, 2014-15
  • Stefany Risner, Bowling Green, 2014-15
  • Emily Donnell, Miami, 2014
  • Royce Gates, Miami, 2014
  • Alexis Zapata, Kent State, 2014
  • Stacy Kotula, Miami, 2013
  • Jennifer VanHorn, Miami, 2013
  • Steven Hallock, Bowling Green, 2012-13
  • Anna Barchich-Suter, Cincinnati, 2012
  • Abby Beham, Miami, 2012
  • Taron Cunningham, Wayne State, 2012
  • Victor Maier, Bowling Green, 2012
  • Brandon Sehlhorst, Cincinnati, 2012
  • Ryne Sundvold, Toledo, 2012
  • Nick Irmin, Miami, 2010
  • Rachel Momenee, Miami, 2010
  • Nicole Kaptur-Zacharyasz, Kent State, 2009
The Toledo Design Collective, a non-profit and volunteer-supported urban planning and design organization, inspires transformative growth throughout the region.
 
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