Community & Action Convenings

From Dialogue to Collective Action

Public engagement and interactions begin by meeting people where they are. The Design Lab advances UC San Diego's mission to transform local, regional, and global communities by convening the right people at the right time around shared challenges and designing toward collective action. Drawing on San Diego's unique position as a binational, cross-sector hub, the Design Lab brings together community members, subject matter experts, and civic and industry leaders to move beyond dialogue into co-design. Through formats ranging from single public convenings to multi-sessions, the focus is always on building shared language, aligning stakeholders, and creating conditions for sustained, community-rooted impact.

What We Offer

Single or multi-series co-hosted convenings with a coherent thematic throughline
Design@Large public lecture and convening format
Design-to-Action Network architecture and convening strategy and implementation
Cross-sector participant curation, experts, practitioners, community voices
Structured co-design toward implementation
Facilitation by Design Lab staff and co-hosts with embedded design frameworks

What You’ll Leave With

Documented insights and key themes from the convening
Co-designed frameworks or prototype action plans
Community and sector connections cultivated through the process

Case Study

Other Partnerships

Design-to-Action Networks (DANs)

The DAN model offers a structured framework for convening cross-sector stakeholders around shared challenges and sustaining coordinated progress over time. Developed by Design Lab through World Design Capital 2024 San Diego Tijuana, DANs brought together community leaders, practitioners, and institutions across six thematic areas in a binational context. By making relationships, roles, and responsibilities explicit, the model moves collaboration beyond alignment into lasting implementation, enabling projects to evolve, connect across sectors, and scale with shared ownership rather than stalling in silos. Read the whitepaper.

UN Foundation's 2100 Convening

Led by the Design Lab, the San Diego Intergenerational Town Hall, held December 7, 2024 at the Border View Family YMCA, convened 140 participants ages 12 to 80, with 58% under 30, alongside 89 additional youth reached through a regional survey. Representing the San Diego, Baja California, and indigenous communities of the broader border region, participants contributed to the UN Foundation's 2100 Roadmap by sharing lived perspectives on youth empowerment, climate justice, and child well-being. The event elevated borderland voices in global governance, modeling a bottom-up approach to international cooperation rooted in the unique experiences of a binational community.

San Diego Regional Proving Ground

In partnership with SANDAG, Caltrans, and the City of Chula Vista, the Design Lab convened a 2018 regional consortium to share updates on California's autonomous vehicle testing regulations and gather public input on AV outreach and education strategies. Participants heard from state and local experts, including law enforcement and the California DMV, to help shape an informed, community-grounded approach to AV deployment across the region.

Want to know more? Email us at dlab-innerlab@ucsd.edu

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