Source: The Republic

Columbus will continue as a hub for architecture by hosting the Civic Design Institute's Prove It: A National Summit on Design Excellence as Civic Practice from Oct. 8 to 10 at The Commons.

The Prove It Summit will launch the Indiana Quality of Place Learning Partnership, produced in partnership with Gov. Mike Braun and the State of Indiana through the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC) and Indiana Arts Commission (IAC). Civic leaders, designers, researchers, funders and policymakers will come together at the summit to determine if design excellence is a civic discipline that can be defined, measured and practiced by any community willing to do the work.

A free public keynote conversation between design leaders will be held on the first day of the summit. Emma Bloomberg, professor in residence of urban planning and design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design; Maurice Cox and Courtney Spearman, who directed rural design programs at the National Endowment for the Arts and now leads Fieldwork at Building Common Ground; will have their conversation moderated by Daniel Luis Martinez, program director of Indiana University's J. Irwin Miller Architecture Program in Columbus.

The speakers will discuss design excellence and will open the summit to questions from the audience. U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, will also offer remarks after a welcome from Columbus Mayor Mary Ferdon.

The public can attend the Oct. 8 keynote by registering at eventbrite.com/e/prove-it-keynote.

Since 2021, the state of Indiana and Lilly Endowment Inc. have committed $1.25 billion to local quality of place through the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI), with communities matching it with local and private money. Lilly Endowment recently allocated nearly $400 million more for a statewide Community Parks Initiative. Part of the Prove It Summit will include five Indiana communities discussing which investments will still be paying off in 2036.

As the launch of the Indiana Quality Place of Learning Partnership, four Indiana communities will join Columbus as the Learning Partnership's founding cohort, including Michigan City, Muncie, Rushville and Terre Haute. Each community will send a team with an active design challenge from its own space that will be discussed Oct. 9. Two representatives from each of Indiana READI regions are also invited to attend and share what the cohort learns to the rest of the state.

"We are proud that Columbus can serve as the gathering place for this statewide and national conversation. Our community has long understood that investing in the places we share is an investment in people. Welcoming mayor-led delegations from four Indiana communities and representatives from all fifteen READI regions gives us the chance to share what we have learned while continuing to learn alongside them," Ferdon said.

The Civic Design Institute will publish what it produces: a summary memo will follow shortly after the event closes, and a draft framework, including a starter set of indicators for measuring quality of place in Columbus and the partner communities, will follow. The indicators are a staring point for the cohort to revise together over the next two years.

"We have worked a long time on design excellence in Columbus, and the most meaningful results come from sustained collaboration, thoughtful decision-making and a willingness to invest for the long term," said Tracy Haddad, board chair of Landmark Columbus Foundation. "This Summit gives us a chance to share that experience while learning from communities across Indiana that are working through their own opportunities and challenges."