how it works

Oregon, By Design is focused on connecting the needs of local communities around the state with design strategies and resources. Working in collaboration with the University of Oregon's RARE program, we identify communities that would benefit from a design-thinking approach to problem solving.

The process is organized in distinct phases to ensure clarity of goals and deliver desired outcomes.   

Here's how it works:

RARE provides next generation of change-makers in communities across the state to take on meaningful and catalytic placed-based projects, all with the focus of increasing the vitality and vibrancy of communities it serves. The RARE AmeriCorps Program offers a unique opportunity to connect the community and economic development needs of rural Oregon communities with the personal and professional development aspirations of the next generation. Using a tried-and-true model for engagement, RARE provides a topnotch service-learning experience while delivering resources, expertise, and critical capacity to rural Oregon. The goal is to ensure a mutually beneficial experience for RARE AmeriCorps members and rural communities they serve. 

Rural communities typically suffer from a deficit of staff who can dedicate themselves to a special project. RARE provides two years of staffing through the AmeriCorps Program. Additionally, it's challenging for communities to have access to highly experienced design professionals. O/BD + RARE then works with the selected community to craft a program that targets each community's needs.

 When selecting communities, RARE looks for impactful projects and strong service-learning opportunities. Organizations eligible to host a RARE member include public agencies (including city, county, and regional governments); special districts (such as soil and water conservation districts, park and transportation districts); and not-for-profit organizations. Types of organizations include watershed councils, housing authorities, and economic development districts. RARE pairs a community with Oregon, By Design to host a Design Skills Workshop involving community members.

The workshop brings together interested local citizens and community officials, with Design professionals as facilitators. Small groups, gathered around tables, work identify items of opportunity and concern to forge a shared vision for the community which is imaginative and doable. The workshop will provide time and space for all participants to share their ideas, find common ground and themes, and articulate design goals and concepts. The outcome of the one-day event is to create an illustrative document by each sub-group, which can show how their ideas may be achieved over time.  The benefit of the workshop is to uncover and reveal ideas, concepts, and strategies that fit the community’s values and visions. 

The RARE team facilitates "strategic doing," an emerging discipline focused on accelerating the transition from strategy to action through collaborations, networks, and ecosystems to address the opportunities identified through the Design Skills Workshop.