Upcoming live courses
DIY Design Leadership: The Urban Charrette Story
Thursday, February 12, 2026 | 2-3pm ET
In April 2007, two graduate architects founded The Urban Charrette as a response to what they saw as disappointing city leadership around the built environment in Tampa. The organization convened emerging professionals across the city to discuss its future. The Urban Charrette was described as “a guerrilla movement in its approach to influencing urban development,” because it utilized innovative tactical urbanism, social networking and unconventional formats and interventions to push change. Its impact on the city over time was undeniable. The volunteerism and public service work also helped launch careers and gave voice and then influence to its core members, who have become civic leaders across the city and points beyond. The Urban Charrette provides a quintessential example of grassroots design leadership and creative problem-solving where new civic mechanisms can provide breakthrough ideas for positive change.
Economic Update Q1 2026 ABI Insights
Thursday, February 19, 2026 | 2-3pm ET
Join AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, and AIA Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Carole Wedge, FAIA, for our quarterly conversation about the AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI). The ABI is a leading monthly economic indicator that uses proprietary AIA data to predict nonresidential construction activity 9–12 months ahead. Get ahead of emerging challenges and opportunities and inform your strategic planning with key insights into the industry’s latest economic data and trends.
State and Local Mechanisms of Design Leadership
Thursday, February 19, 2026 | 2-3pm ET
The AIA was a critical partner to the early Community Design Centers in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Today, there are dozens of community design centers across the country. The Civic Design Center represents one important model that emerged out of local advocacy efforts and has gone on to have a profound impact on the future of Nashville. The Minnesota Design Team embodies a Component-led model at the state level. Established in 1983, the MDT has served over 100 communities across the state, leveraging the contributions of hundreds of volunteer professionals. The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Center for Resilient Metro-Regions has partnered with Communities by Design in recent years to deliver technical assistance to 9 towns in Vermont and Massachusetts, offering another model. This session will explore comparative approaches to design leadership and volunteer mobilization to impact communities.
UK-US Contemporary Experiences with Collaborative Design & Planning
Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 2-3pm ET
Design professionals across the United Kingdom have been at the forefront of efforts to promote international adaptation of collaborative design practice since the 1980s. In 1988, a seminal joint design assistance team project took place between UK and American professionals in Pittsburgh, leading to a wave of new practice across Europe and beyond. This session will explore comparative experiences in collaborative design and planning with two leading thinkers, as well as the development of the Association for Collaborative Design. The session will share experiences with collaborative planning events from the UK and elsewhere and introduce the new Engagement Overlay to the RIBA Plan of Work, a tool to promote best practice and ensure the most successful and collaborative project outcomes.
New on demand courses
Communities by Design: Building a Global Urban Design Movement
Communities by Design (CxD) brings together volunteer professionals and citizens to build strategies that solve the most pressing issues facing the places we call home. CxD represents one of the most impactful investments ever made in communities by the profession and one of the largest sustained investments ever made in urbanism. The program has a five-decade track record of demonstrated success with tens of thousands of volunteers and citizens working hand in hand to benefit communities. Today, the initiative encompasses direct work in over a dozen countries across 5 continents, including communities in 47 US states. The outcomes have created international renown for places like the Pearl District in Portland, Santa Fe’s Railyard District and East Nashville. Several Kemper Award winners have emerged from the program as well. It has profoundly impacted how our profession approaches communities, with its methodology widely adapted to fuel thousands of additional processes and a global participatory urban movement in recent decades. Along the way, the program has influenced future Presidents and Kings, the Olympic Games and a spectrum of institutions. This session will focus on the core elements of the methodology that have made the program so impactful.
Becoming an Empowered Mentee in Architecture
Becoming a mentee is one of the most powerful ways to shape your professional growth in architecture. This course equips you with the knowledge and skills to engage effectively and confidently in mentorship programs.
Drawing on the AIA Guides for Equitable Practice, proven research, and national models, you’ll explore the purpose and benefits of mentorship, distinguish mentoring from coaching and sponsorship, and learn how to set clear goals, communicate effectively, and build a professional network. Emphasizing inclusive practices, this course helps mentees recognize bias, build trust across differences, and take ownership of their professional development.
Through real-world scenarios and guided reflection, you’ll develop strategies for active engagement, self-assessment, and problem-solving strategies—ensuring your readiness to maximize the value of mentorship relationships.
Becoming an Inclusive Mentor in Architecture
Becoming an architecture mentor is one of the most meaningful ways to support the next generation of design professionals. This interactive course prepares you to become the best mentor possible by building the skills needed for effective, inclusive, and sustainable mentoring relationships.
Drawing on the AIA Guides for Equitable Practice, proven research, and national models, you’ll explore the purpose and impact of mentorship, distinguish between mentoring, coaching, and sponsoring, and learn how to set clear goals and boundaries. Emphasizing inclusive practices, this course helps mentors recognize bias, build trust across differences, and foster equitable growth for mentees.
Through real-world scenarios and guided reflection, you’ll develop strategies for navigating common mentoring challenges and assess your readiness to mentor with confidence, empathy, and intentionality.
Water Access as Wellness Touchpoints: Beyond Hydration in Human-Centered Design
This course explores how access to clean, well-designed drinking water access points can support human health, behavior, and wellness in the built environment. Architects and designers are increasingly asked to go beyond code compliance – to shape spaces that promote hydration, trust in water quality, and equitable access. This course equips design professionals with the latest thinking on how water access points can serve as visible, functional wellness touchpoints across commercial, institutional, and public settings.
This session was recorded live on August 27, 2025.