People say that you can’t really understand what a charrette does unless you have seen one in action. The NCI Charrette System: Stories of Community Transformation DVD is the next best thing to being there. This DVD places you into key moments within the seven-day East Fort Myers, FL charrette. Hear what participants are saying before and after the [...]

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Honestly, it can sometimes be a challenge to convince a project sponsor to use a charrette. First you may need to redefine the term. People in the community planning and development world use the word charrette very loosely. To some it may mean a one-hour meeting while to others is means a week-long event. One [...]

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Sustainability planning requires an extra effort to educate stakeholders before the charrette. The techniques and issues related to sustainability are often too numerous and too complex to deal solely within the charrette. Waiting until the charrette to start a community conversation about sustainability can leave you with a steep learning curve that can consume valuable [...]

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Reason #17: Reduce Critical, Costly Errors
Today’s tight budgets leave little room for errors that result in costly rework.  The NCI Charrette System™ provides a safety net to help complex and volatile projects avoid “post-charrette meltdown.”  Months before the beginning of the charrette, during the Project Assessment and Organization phase, the project management team identifies the [...]

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Here is an excerpt from a great article written by NCI alumni, Susan H. Cipperly, also a 2007 Irving Hand Professional Development Award Recipient “One thing I have been aware of during my career as a planner is that unless a comprehensive plan is created with the active involvement of community representatives and government officials, it [...]

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Excerpts from the NCI Charrette Management and Facilitation Training
A successful charrette depends on efficient operations. It can be very distracting and a drain on the team’s energy to be dealing with operational breakdowns like blown fuse boxes, slow internet providers, or lack of air conditioning. It may sound obvious, but there are numerous examples of [...]

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Most of us in Charrettes (and in life, I’m guessing), work diligently to avoid facing Hobbesian decisions, or making a choice in which only one option is offered - and we may only refuse to take that option, a “take it or leave it” proposition.  So, in Charrettes at least, we begin with many choices, [...]

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Of all the arguments for using the charrette method, none comes into sharper focus in times like these than the bang-for-the-buck advantage. Well-planned, well-managed charrettes can save both public and private sector clients a ton of time and money. But here’s the hitch: To realize the savings, clients have to take on more responsibility in [...]

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NCI Director, Bill Lennertz, participated in a presentation three weeks ago at Greenbuild with former USGBC chair, Sandy Wiggins from Consilience LLC and Jennifer Rezeli from ReVision Architects, both NCI certificate holders. The session featured lessons from Sandy and Jenn’s sustainable charrette practice as well as content from the NCI Sustainable Charrette Summit held last [...]

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Oliver Kuehne, Senior Town PlannerHDR Town Planning

Create a supply checklist. Specify what you need, and how many of each; take inventory a few days prior to leaving for the charrette as some items may need to be ordered.
Put one person in charge of inventory and packing. If everybody throws stuff in a suitcase you will [...]

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