Designing Creative Communities: Your Town Is Your Canvas. Learn How To Make Your Mark
We all want to be a part of a thriving community. But few of us know how to meaningfully contribute to the places where we live, work, learn and play.
Whether you dream of launching a community innovation center, want to enhance your town with colorful murals, or are simply looking to strengthen relationships with your neighbors, Designing Creative Communities is the guide for you.
Award-winning community builder, Spud Marshall, coaches emerging leaders and community members alike through a simple process for how to transform your town into a creative place to call home. Filled with stories from Spud's work over the past decade, Designing Creative Communities teaches you how to actively create change and have a lot of fun along the way.
The book will introduce you to the CANVAS Framework where you'll learn how to:
- Chart your path (and avoid getting an RV stuck in the mud).
- Ask probing questions (by jumping into an inflatable ball pit on the street).
- Name early adopters (and create a secret society).
- Visualize a prototype (while ensuring that bees don't escape into your home).
- Articulate your story (using a giant blue chameleon car).
- Sustain efforts with partners (without harming a single piano).
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
"A brilliant take on how to design your own creative community! This is a must-read for any emerging leader."
- Erin Krampetz Boyd,
Co-Founder of Ashoka U and Business Operations for Culdesac,
which is building the first car-free neighborhood in the U.S.
--
"An essential read for anyone in community and economic development professions, or anyone that just wants to make a positive contribution to their community. Spud weaves captivating and highly entertaining stories about success, failure, and overcoming adversity from his own creative practice in dozens of communities, providing powerful tools for creative transformation with humor, humility, and honest self-reflection. This book is hugely relatable and difficult to put down; it is one influential guide that I will be recommending widely to colleagues and communities alike."
- Michael Fortunato,
Founding Partner of Creative Insight Community Development
--
"Spud is hands down the most creative community builder I've ever met! In his book, he showcases his unique journey step-by-step, the highs and lows he navigated along the way, and how you too can shape the community of your dreams."
- Alexis Taylor,
World Economic Forum Global Shaper and Davos Lab Taskforce Co-Chair
--
"Spud is what would happen if you took the imagination and creativity of a second grader and paired it with the wisdom of a 90-year-old professor. It is a gift to meet someone with this level of creativity and skill to effectively bring these dreams to life. This book is a terrific read!"
- Dustin Liu,
United Nations, U.S. Youth Observer
