Citizens' Institute on Rural Design

**Strengthening Rural Communities by Design** The Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) is a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Housing Assistance Council. Focusing on communities with populations of 50,000 or less, CIRD’s goal is to enhance the quality of life and economic vitality of rural America through planning, design, and creative placemaking. CIRD is intended to empower local citizens to capitalize on unique local and regional assets in order to guide the civic development and future design of their own communities. The CIRD program goals include: Building design capacity in rural communities to plan comprehensive revitalization strategies; Introducing creative placemaking, arts, culture, and design strategies as drivers of economic development in rural America; Facilitating a network of rural communities for design idea exchanges and peer learning; and Preparing communities to be ready and competitive for arts- and design-related state and federal funding opportunities. **How we work** CIRD provides access to the resources that communities need to convert their own good ideas into reality. The program offers competitive funding to small towns and rural and tribal communities to host a local design workshop. With support from a wide range of design, planning, and creative placemaking professionals, the workshops bring together local residents and local leaders from non-profits, community organizations, and government to develop actionable solutions to the community's pressing design challenges. The community receives additional support through webinars, web-based resources, and customized follow-up support after the workshop. CIRD also includes support for rural communities through the Design Learning Cohort. Leaders from selected communities are invited to engage in peer learning; training in design, planning, community engagement, and facilitation techniques; one-on-one technical assistance on their community design challenge; and support in navigating funding opportunities to make their vision a reality. Both parts of the CIRD program connect rural residents with resources and ideas for developing locally driven solutions to community design challenges.