Join us in experiencing this online workshop format for City Repair’s Village Building Design Course. Our content condenses over 20 years of experience supporting and facilitating placemaking initiatives in Portland, across the continent and around the world into an accessible 12-hour program.

Our City Repair Team for this year's course includes:
Mark Lakeman, Co-Founder
Ridhi D'Cruz, Co-Executive Director
Kirk Rea, City Co-Executive Director
Matt Bibeau, Educational Events Director
Yu Murakami, Japan Liaison & Language Support

PRESENTATIONS will be live streamed and all participants will be provided links to curated videos from these sessions as well as additional content that gives a unique glimpse into aspects of this work. We will also lead participants in do-it-at-home interactive exercises on starting and reinvigorating neighborhood and community initiatives where you live.

This course will take place in four live streamed sessions where you will hear form and have an opportunity to ask questions to our most experienced organizational staff, scheduled from 4-7PM PST between Sunday, may 31 and Wednesday, June 3. (This time block allows for multiple time zones to participate).

The opportunity to take this course on-line will greatly widen the accessibility of this content!

We will explore topics like:
-Principles of Placemaking
-Origins of the City Repair Project & the VBC
-How ecological and social design considerations intersect to strengthen senses of place
-Reclaiming the commons, and repairing our relationship to place
-Recognizing public art, natural building and permaculture as effective community-building strategies
-The Placemaking Process Template for successful community projects including a focus on place justice.
-Effecting political change at a local level through public-right movement building
-Scaling up to become a coordinator of multiple community projects & hosting Convergence-type events
-Revisioning Mutual Aid as an essential community function

Participants who complete the course will earn a 12-hour certificate of training in URBAN VILLAGE BUILDING DESIGN from the City Repair Project.

Cost: $160 for 4 evening sessions (Sunday May 31 - Wednesday June 3) from 4-7pm PST (7pm-10pm EST, 8am-11am JST). The Sunday session is a keynote presentation by Mark Lakeman.

Tickets for this event are currently available through Eventbrite.

Additional Consulting Package: We are also offering a course + consultation package that includes one hour of personalized consultation (either in-person or via video conferencing) to support the development and refinement of your community project or organization.

Depending on the specific nature of your efforts, we will match you with one of our staff instructors with expertise in the specific area. Due to the nature of the VBC, our staff instructors will not be able to provide project-specific guidance or consultation outside of an arranged consultation appointment.