Community Design Assistance
Community Design Assistance
Community Design Assistance can help bring your community's vision to reality.
Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky (CEDIK) partners with the Department of Landscape Architecture (UKLA), along with other departments and programs at UK, to further the development goals of communities in Kentucky. These community design efforts are connected to planning and economic development strategies and capacity building that may involve creative placemaking, adventure tourism, downtown revitalization, public space or cultural amenity creation.
Does your community have a project that needs facilitation and visualization?
If your community/organization is interested in working with UK on a design project, this assistance can be delivered in a number of ways. Our engagement offerings utilize large groups of students working in design courses, smaller teams of student interns working with faculty and staff guidance, and cooperative extension work that includes publications, training, capacity-building, and coordination with service-learning projects. Selected projects are idea-oriented and are intended to build community capacity to engage professional planning and design services, organize funding, and inspire future projects.
These Community Design efforts are spearheaded by Associate Extension Professor in Landscape Architecture, Jayoung Koo, with collaboration from CEDIK staff. Other students, faculty and staff in Landscape Architecture may be partners and collaborators on your design projects, as needed. All projects must have an emphasis on shared environments.
Fees vary depending on the size and scope of projects.
Immersive Summer Internships
CEDIK’s award winning community design summer internship efforts, made possible through a range of community funding opportunities, immerses a cohort of multi-disciplinary interns into a rural community to develop projects and recommendations based on that community’s specific needs. Interns, bringing their own unique strengths, and backgrounds, deep dive into a community to identify and understand the local character and needs. In each step of the process they engage with community, while working collaboratively in an environment that mimics professional practice to learn from each other.
Service-learning projects through UKLA
Depending on the type of project and a match with faculty interests and course goals, UKLA can collaborate on service-learning projects during the academic year. For consideration, projects need to be requested at least 3 months in advance of the academic year.
Submit your request here.
Storefront Design Studio Projects
Design Studios serve as a proof of concept for how the design and economic development resources of the University can be embedded in a community to support their needs. Working with a wide network of local partner organizations, the Studio seeks to support them by being both a physical space for them and by connecting them to resources across the Commonwealth such as business programs offered through the Small Business Development Center, Cooperative Extension programming and academic design studios through the College of Design.
Community Design Work Archive
View completed collaborative CEDIK/UKLA Community Design projects and their outcomes in the UKLA Extension archive.
Completed Summer Internships
Learn more about summer internships that have yielded terrific experiences and findings for selected Kentucky communities over the years.
Completed Design Studio Pilot
Our pilot Design Studio in Winchester, KY set many exciting community changes into motion. View our results.
Other CEDIK Assistance
Customized Reports and Data
CEDIK offers a suite of services geared to providing community and industry stakeholders research-based information. We offer a range of customized studies, reports, and technical assistance for community development.
Learn moreCommunity Planning
CEDIK can facilitate a range of community and strategic planning efforts for your community.
Learn moreEconomic Development Programs
Choose from a number of programs that will set your business and community on the right path. Together, or individually these programs can help to establish or grow small businesses and towns in Kentucky.
Learn more