Indigenous Structures for Inclusion Conference 2026

Indigenous Structures for Inclusion runs from Thursday, October 8, through Saturday, October 10 at Portland State University, held across NASCC and Lincoln Hall. It's a three-day, in-person conference centered on Indigenous Public Interest Design, with presentations from architects, designers, engineers, and planners. The theme this year is Indigenous Public Interest Design: Cultural Knowledge and Practices, and the sessions focus on projects that exemplify that approach, with practitioners sharing Indigenous cultural knowledge and practices and the value they bring to built and natural environments.

To get where this comes from, it helps to know the history. The Structures for Inclusion conferences started in 2000 with Design Corps, and for twenty-six years they've aimed to share the best ideas and practices for reaching people currently underserved by architecture. They showcase impactful projects that address Social, Economic, and Environmental Design—or SEED—using Design Corps' SEED Evaluator methodology to measure that impact. This edition is co-organized by Design Corps and The Center for Public Interest Design (CPID) at PSU's School of Architecture, along with the SEED Network and the Indigenous Traditional Ecological + Cultural Knowledge Center (ITECK), a program that tends to the land around Portland while cultivating community among Indigenous peoples and uplifting Indigenous voices.

Across the three days, you'll hear from architects, designers, engineers, and planners presenting projects that put Indigenous Public Interest Design into practice. The focus is on how Indigenous cultural knowledge and practices function within the built and natural environments, and the practitioners themselves are the ones sharing that work. It's an in-person gathering, so you'll be in the room with the people doing the work. Registration is required, and tickets range from free to $300.