We’re reviving a Designing Cities tradition – NACTO Camp! In this NACTO member-driven “unconference,” session topics and activities are proposed by City staff who are registered participants at the beginning of the Designing Cities 2020 Virtual Convening. The NACTO Camp format responds to your requests for space to solve specific, urgent issues facing your agencies right now. Read more below and check out the NACTO Camp guide (pdf).

Have you been itching to have a conversation for months? Or maybe you just thought up a question this morning! Either way, if you want to be a NACTO Camp session host make sure you’re a registered Participant for Designing Cities 2020.

A registered session host can invite non-registered discussion partners to your session, though (e.g., A co-worker, consultant or community partner. An expert from another agency, policy org, or university), so don’t let registration status limit your imagination.

Dream up sessions that make time and space for ALL session participants to contribute knowledge and perspectives. How can a peer-to-peer conversation enhance your own expertise and practice? Sometimes the best topic is a question that you don’t know the answer to yet!

During the first days of Designing Cities 2020 (12/2 – 12/3), NACTO member agency staff who are registered event participants will be able to submit proposals for NACTO Camp sessions they would like to host. This could include:

A 45-75 minute panel discussion, community conversation, or interactive workshop.
• Exs: A gathering of winter cities to discuss prepping for winter during Covid-19 (could invite city partner staff to attend/speak who aren’t necessarily attending the full conference);
• A classic panel discussion on the state of congestion pricing in a few cities;
• An open forum to share best practices in community engagement during Covid-19 (could invite community groups to join this conversation);
• A design charrette for a new bus lane network in your city

A 30 minute social space to nerd out on fun transportation things, or just to get to know one another.
• Exs: A coffee/cocktail break where everyone does a show-and-tell about their bicycle;
• Beers with Black Engineers happy hour;
• A breakfast/lunch with a designated discussion topic;
• A pro-city/bike/transit board book afternoon storytime with your kiddos;
• A tour of new infrastructure in your city.

Time slots will fill as hosts submit ideas, scheduled at the following times. Multiple sessions will run concurrently in each slot. Videoconferencing links will be posted on the Aventri Event Platform you used for Participant registration:

• Breakfast/Lunch Discussions: Dec 8, 9, & 10 from 12:15 – 12:45pm ET
• Session Blocks: Dec 8 & 9 from 3:30 – 4:45pm ET; Dec 9 from 1:00 – 2:15pm ET
• Coffee/Cocktail Hours: Dec 8 & 9 from 5:00 – 5:30pm ET and 8:30 – 9:00pm ET; Dec 9 from 2:45 – 3:15pm ET; Dec 10 from 3:30 – 4:00pm ET