What do we do?

Put simply, Eco Abet provides design services and marketing material for nonprofits and other community organizations who do not have access to it.

We are a group of architects, designers, and activists who have set out to empower our community with access to design. We originated intent on providing EVERY person access to design; design that promotes a socially, economically, and environmentally healthy community. To do this, we facilitate annual design charrettes that provide community organizations access to professional design and offer compelling visual media to help funders understand and assess community project merits.

While the structure of a design charrette can vary, for one day Eco Abet invites the Kansas City design community (a large network of volunteers consisting of architects, urban planners, engineers, lawyers, developers, historic preservationists, and graphic designers) to offer their services and talents to organizations that can't otherwise afford design services. Architects and other design participants from varying experience levels and backgrounds are divided into groups and with continuous feedback from stakeholders, produce visual media that the pre-selected community organizations utilize for future fundraising efforts. With a design charrette, Eco Abet assists in initiating the first steps in a building project's design process. 

These charrette collaborations emphasize project concepts that restore a level of density and diversity of building uses, aim to reconnect neighborhoods, reestablish a sense of place, advocate for environmentally responsible buildings and sites, accommodate multi-modal transportation, and foster social interaction. For participation in the charrette, everyone in the Greater Kansas City area community is invited to the table and individual involvement takes place for a myriad of reasons. Between community organizations and the designers helping them envision and communicate their projects, relationships are being formed that give exposure to all stakeholders involved. In our 6th year of hosting charrettes we continue to learn how to be more organized and efficient, and how to engage and educate a community on the importance of design and the process of a project from concept to construction.

By facilitating charrettes for community organizations, we provide: 

• Access to professional design services for community organizations.

• Compelling visual media that help funders assess community projects' merits.

• Professional development and volunteer opportunities for architects and other designers.

Eco Abet is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in June 2010.