Call for Proposals: The Vision is Yours Placemaking & Placekeeping Conference

About the Open Call

The Neighborhood Design Center invites proposals for The Vision is Yours Placemaking & Placekeeping Conference, focusing on strategies for launching, resourcing, storytelling, maintaining, and programming community projects. We are especially interested in projects related to food access, local foodways, creative expression, play, safety, greening, gathering spaces, and mobility. Session formats include: Learning Labs (90 min) for hands-on, interactive sessions; Panels (90 min) for multi-perspective conversations with audience Q&A; and Mobile Workshops (90–120 min) for on-the-ground site visits within reasonable driving distance of Mount Rainier. Speaker notifications are expected in January 2026. If you’re a community organizer, planner, designer, artist, funder, youth leader, developer, nonprofit partner — or anyone making change through innovative, place-based work — we want to hear from you.

What is Offered

All speakers will receive complimentary registration to the 2-day conference.

Requirements

Proposals should dig into strategies for launching, resourcing, storytelling, and maintaining & programming projects, with an emphasis on what makes communities thrive (e.g., food access, creative expression, greening, mobility). Proposals must fit one of the following session formats: Learning Labs (90 min, hands-on, interactive), Panels (90 min, multi-field discussion with Q&A), or Mobile Workshops (90–120 min, site visits near Mount Rainier). Applicants can be community organizers, planners, designers, artists, funders, youth leaders, developers, or nonprofit partners.

How to Apply

Submit proposals via the provided Application Form links for Learning Labs, Panels, or Mobile Workshops. Access the application form at https://form.typeform.com/to/hp2vve9f.