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.

"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