ACD connects passionate leaders to exchange ideas and grow the community design field.
Semiannually since 1977, ACD has hosted a convening in partnership with a local institution, firm, or organization. The event typically occurs over 3-4 days at locations across the country every year. The conference serves to share research, work, findings, build coalitions among practitioners, and facilitate exchange between national practitioners and local organizations. The gathering is made up of a series of presentations, workshops, participatory and/or advocacy events, tours, and networking opportunities that seek to further the practice and awareness of community design by connecting one another through our work. The event showcases best practices of community design and planning, exposing attendees to unique perspectives of the host city.
About ACD49: Enduring Optimism
Bozeman, Montana on October 2-3, 2026
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ACD49: Enduring Optimism marks the return of the Association for Community Design’s annual conference with a two-day convening in Bozeman on October 2-3, 2026. ACD49 is hosted by the Montana Community Design Center at Montana State University.
As the center marks its 50th year, this gathering reflects on the endurance of community design as both a movement and a practice. Born in the civil rights era, community design centers emerged from urgency, inequity, and a demand for justice in the built environment.
Five decades later, this work persists across different contexts, organizations, and generations. This year’s conference asks participants to consider optimism not as naïve hope, but as a disciplined belief—one grounded in collaborative, community-rooted design that produces tangible change.
Set within Montana’s rural context and hosted at the state’s largest university, ACD49 creates space to reflect on where this work began, what has endured, and where community design must go next. Through panels, presentations, and shared experiences, the conference will explore how practices evolve over time while staying rooted in justice, partnership, and community knowledge.
