Village Building Convergence

What We Are

The Village Building Convergence is a bit like a conference, a bit like a festival, and a bit like a neighborhood improvement day. Of course, it is uniquely unlike any of those events, but if you are familiar with any of these types of events, you can start to understand VBC.

How is it like a conference?

During the Village Building Convergence, there are workshops and keynote speakers. Many people register to attend the entire event. There are activities from early morning until late in the night. So in some ways, it might feel similar to attending a conference. Here are some key differences:

• attenders at VBC are integrally involved in creating the "content" (the placemaking site projects), and as such, it is more of a convergence of interested, skilled, experienced and committed people, of both those living in Portland, and visitors from afar.
• although we do have several types of workshops and evening keynote speakers, the reason we gather is to support neighborhood site everyday. The program of workshops and speakers is complementary to the main focus of the neighborhood projects.

How is it like a festival?

We are like a festival in a number of ways: we celebrate public art and lavishly decorate our central venue. Also, we eat dinner together every night, and feature local bands nearly every night for dancing. There is a festival atmosphere at the central venue, and places to hang out outdoors together. Here are some key differences:

• again, the purpose of our convergence is to support the placemaking sites. Having a community experience every evening is the icing on the cake. 
• our central venue is in a family neighborhood, and so we keep to the hours and behaviors appropriate for that context
• a number of our bands contribute their time, and bands are chosen for their compatibility with our values, not necessarily for the degree to which they are currently in fashion (drawing a large mainstream crowd).
• the admission we charge for the evening event is to support our non-profit, which in turns supports the neighborhood placemaking sites with materials and other support.

How is it like a neighborhood improvement day?

During the Village Building Convergence, a lot of work is done to directly improve spaces which the public either owns or has access to. Like a neighborhood improvement day, VBC projects make people feel more ownership of the place in which they live, and upgrade the functionality of the neighborhood in some way. Here are some key differences:

• the planning that goes into a VBC project would exceed the planning that goes into most neighborhood cleanup projects. Site begin considering their options in the late fall, and submit Statements of Intent in late January. Our Placemaking Team holds weekly meetings to support the sites in their work.
• many neighborhoods are involved at one time! VBC sites are scattered around the Greater Portland Metro area. This links together in common cause people from many different neighborhoods.
• the planning for VBC sites is decentralized. We believe that the more local the decision the better, while we're in the phase of rebuilding vibrant neighborhoods.

Placemaking process

VBC will feature projects located in or adjacent to the public right of way and private projects that support community in various neighborhoods. Private site projects will be structures or systems that are built by and available to the communities concerned with that site, and hopefully available to some extent to the larger community. These will include public squares and meeting houses, community kiosks and benches, solar-powered and artistic innovations, and many other new ideas. Each project is initiated and managed by neighborhood groups with support from the VBC Placemaking Committee. The Placemaking coordinators help neighborhoods facilitate and coordinate the outreach/public involvement process, community decision-making and design workshops, and the permit process with the City.

2010 Theme | Intersection - Reclaiming the Crossroads

An intersection can be thought of as the the place, physical or metaphorical, where different entities collide with each other, creating beauty that was only hinted at by the individual components. As the common saying goes, the end result is greater than the sum of the parts; however, this is not to diminish the importance of the individual parts. An intersection is a celebration of diversity in which the individual components and the collective manifestation are balanced in a way that honors both. In permaculture terms, an intersection can also be thought of as an edge or a boundary, and it is at these edges that systems thrive in unprecedented ways.

As the Village Building Convergence enters its second decade, we are asking our community to think about and create deeper intersections in their lives and in the world around them: How can the private and the public be effectively merged to co-create the world we want to live in? How can modern technology and traditional methods work symbiotically instead of being at odds with each other? Are the ways in which we conduct our interpersonal relationships conduvive to building communities? How do we create diverse communities that support and nurture the uniqueness of each member?