Upcoming live courses
Working Effectively with International Design Teams
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 | 8-9am ET
This program explores how to lead and collaborate effectively across borders in global design practices. Panelists will discuss how they navigated complex design workflows between teams on different continents, drawing from real-world case studies in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Topics include cultural expectations, communication strategies, time zone coordination, and digital tools that enable successful delivery. The audience will leave with practical frameworks and lessons learned from both sides of the collaboration.
Decoding the Coexistence of ASC and Hospital Outpatient Surgery
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 | 2-3pm ET
This session will examine the CMS requirements for Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) and Hospital Outpatient Departments (HOPD) concerning space utilization and shared spaces. Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of how these requirements intersect with NFPA 101 and FGI 2022 standards. Through the examination of two distinct case studies, the speakers will demonstrate strategies to enhance operational efficiency and throughput for both ASC and HOPD, while ensuring adaptability for future growth and surge scenarios. These case studies will highlight the various ways clinical and non-clinical support services, spaces, and staff can be shared or remain separate between ASC and HOPD. The session will provide clear, concise insights, making it valuable for marketing and accreditation purposes.
The Architect’s Role in Advancing Sustainable Urbanization Worldwide
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 | 12-1pm ET
As cities across the globe face mounting pressures from rapid population growth, climate change, and resource scarcity, architects are uniquely positioned to lead the charge toward sustainable urbanization. This course examines how design professionals can go beyond traditional building design to shape resilient, inclusive, and ecologically sound urban environments. With a panel of experts sharing experience in master planning projects across Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East, the session will highlight how architects can serve as strategic partners in master planning, infrastructure integration, and cross-sector collaboration. Through real-world project insights, participants will gain a practical understanding of how to advocate for sustainable outcomes at both building and urban scales in vastly different cultural, climatic, and regulatory contexts.
Resilience by Design: Lessons from Climate-Impacted Communities
Thursday, April 23, 2026 | 12-1pm ET
Communities across the country are experiencing the impacts of a changing climate—from stronger storms to flooding, heat, and other climate-intensified hazards. Architects and landscape architects have an important role to play in helping communities prepare for these challenges and better recover after disasters.
This session will highlight the value of cross-disciplinary collaboration and community-driven design in building climate resilience. Last year, the Communities by Design (CxD) program hosted a project in Bakersville, North Carolina, after the small community was hit by Hurricane Helene. Architect Cheryl Morgan, based in Montgomery, Alabama, and landscape architect Aida Curtis, from Miami, Florida, will share lessons from their work on that project and other resilience-focused initiatives developed through the CxD program. Drawing from their experiences both within and beyond CxD, they will discuss how design professionals can work alongside local leaders, residents, and other experts to identify risks, strengthen community capacity, and implement strategies that help communities adapt to changing conditions.
Participants will gain practical insights into how collaborative design processes can support preparedness, recovery, and long-term resilience in communities facing increasing climate pressures.
New on demand courses
Beyond the Chatbot: What AI Actually Does for Healthcare Design
Artificial intelligence is transforming the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, yet many professionals remain uncertain about its practical applications. This panel discussion brings together healthcare owners and project delivery professionals to separate the hype from reality. The session will begin by clarifying what AI means for AEC beyond generative chat tools, followed by a data-driven snapshot of current adoption based on a pre-webinar survey of Academy members. Panelists will demonstrate the potential for AI applications in healthcare design and planning, and in particular, discuss how proper AI-assisted code compliance validation and space programming can ensure facilities meet regulatory requirements and support optimal clinical workflows. As AI tools can help identify design deficiencies earlier in the project lifecycle, firms may see a reduction in the number of costly changes thereby improving the overall quality of healthcare environments. The discussion will conclude with practical guidance on how owners and design teams can organize their historical project data today to unlock AI capabilities tomorrow while avoiding siloed point solutions. A live Q&A will ground the discussion in real project experience.
This session was recorded live on March 17, 2026.
Allyship Strategies for Equitable Practice
Architects collaborate with colleagues, consultants, clients, and community stakeholders whose perspectives shape project decisions and outcomes. Yet not all voices are equally heard—professionals from marginalized identity groups, including women, BIPOC individuals, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with disabilities, often face barriers to recognition, advancement, or meaningful engagement.
This course introduces allyship in architectural practice, showing how architects can use their influence to foster equitable participation in project teams and stakeholder engagement processes. You’ll explore actionable strategies such as expanding opportunities for underrepresented colleagues, addressing biased or dismissive behavior, and amplifying diverse perspectives during project discussions.
Inclusive collaboration brings broader ideas, lived experiences, and innovative approaches, strengthening design outcomes and better aligning projects with client and community goals. You’ll reflect on current practices and leave with strategies to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in architectural workflows.
UK-US Contemporary Experiences with Collaborative Design & Planning
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.
This session was recorded live on February 26, 2026.
State and Local Mechanisms of Design Leadership
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.
This session was recorded live on February 19, 2026.