Engagement as a Design Practice: A Relational Approach to Listening, Shared Decision-Making and Design

Engagement as a Design Practice: A Relational Approach to Listening, Shared Decision-Making and Design is part of AIBC’s 2026 Fall PD Series and is eligible towards AIBC’s Indigenous Peoples Learning requirement.

This presentation invites architects to consider engagement by what carries forward into the built work. Drawing from experience with public, cultural, and community projects, this session will explore where community direction can become vulnerable, why Indigenous design commitments are sometimes treated as optional, and how architects can help protect the outcomes and commitments of co-design as projects evolve.

The profession has an opportunity to move beyond facilitating good conversations toward creating stronger continuity between engagement, decision-making, and design. Architects can help make authority visible, translate community direction into clear and traceable project requirements, and build accountability into governance, budgets, consultant scopes, and approvals. This work can introduce technical, operational, and institutional challenges, but working through those challenges is an essential part of both the design process and respectful collaboration with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.

Ultimately, communities should be able to recognize their knowledge, priorities, input, and influence in the places they helped co-design. This presentation asks what architects can do, individually and collectively to help make that possible.

• Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026
• Time: 12 – 1 p.m.
• Location: Online via Zoom
• Cost: $50 (Architect AIBC & Architectural Technologist AIBC); $40 (Intern Architect AIBC & Retired Architect AIBC)
• Learning Units (LUs): 1 Core
• Register: Register by 12 p.m. on Monday, October 26, 2026

Presenter: Mamie Griffith, Indigenous Placekeeping + Community Design Strategist

Mamie Griffith is a designer and Indigenous Placekeeping and Community Design Strategist with over 15 years of experience delivering complex public, cultural, institutional, and community-based projects across Canada. With Dene and European heritage, she brings a relationship-based approach to design grounded in collaboration, cultural knowledge, and meaningful engagement. She works closely with governments, First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, institutions, and multidisciplinary teams to create places that are culturally meaningful, deeply connected to the land, and responsive to community priorities.

Her work focuses on creating places that strengthen community, support wellness, and reflect the unique identity of the people and landscapes they serve. She has led design research, community engagement, and project development for nationally significant initiatives, including the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, the Indian Residential Schools National Monument Design Selection Process, cultural facilities, public parks, and housing projects. Her experience spans the full project lifecycle, from visioning and engagement through design strategy, implementation, and project delivery. Her practice integrates First Nations, Métis and Inuit knowledge systems, environmental stewardship, and placekeeping principles to create places that strengthen relationships between people, culture, and the land.