Minnesota Design Center (MDC)

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The Minnesota Design Center (MDC) engages in system design in Minnesota and the upper Midwest. We seek innovative solutions to the design of physical systems such as infrastructure and open space as well as non-physical systems such as public health or service delivery, helping our region seize the opportunities that lie in the social, technological, environmental, and economic disruptions of our time.

Upcoming Webinar

Empowering Small Minnesota Communities Project Webinar

Climate Resilience: Pollinator Habitats

WHEN: Thursday, February 13 at 12:00 PM CT

WHERE: Online—Join the Zoom

Please join us for our fourth Empowering Small Minnesota Communities Project Webinar, Climate Resilience: Pollinator Habitats. Dan Shaw, Senior Ecology and Vegetation Specialist with the Board of Soil and Water Resources (BWSR), will provide an overview on the benefits of pollinator habitats and emerging strategies for rural and urban landscapes to maximize landscape benefits and build climate resilience.

The Empowering Small Minnesota Communities Project (ESMC) which was established by the State of Minnesota during the 2023 legislative session to support small Minnesota communities and local government units with added capacity to develop and better coordinate more resilient, sustainable, and adaptable infrastructure projects. The MDC is working with the Center for Transportation Studies, Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the Regional Sustainable Development Partnership at UMN to lead this initiative. We want to provide communities involved or interested in the ESMC program with new and accessible perspectives on resilient infrastructure strategies. Our webinar series aims to give a better sense of possibilities with examples from professional experiences in the field, and to help communities that face similar challenges share best practices and innovative solutions. 

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Featured Projects

Search for Shelter Proposal 2024

Director of the Minnesota Design Center (MDC), Thomas Fisher presented the MDC's Search for Shelter proposal for Minneapolis's K-Mart site to the Whittier Alliance neighborhood association.

Explore Our Projects

The MDC collaborates across disciplines through academic and industry partnerships to address system design issues in Minnesota. 

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15th Anniversary Report

For 15 years, MDC has partnered with communities across Minnesota and the upper Midwest to find innovative solutions to our communities' most pressing design problems. Learn more about the research we have conducted, the partners we've worked with, and the results of our work in our 15th Anniversary Report.