Community-Driven Design Grants Program

Geographic Scope: San Diego Tijuana region (California-Mexico border)

Overview:
A partnership between World Design Capital 2024 and the City of San Diego offering multiple funding categories for publicly accessible programs, projects, events, and festivals that align with WDC 2024 Focus Areas.

Eligible Project Types

• Programs
• Projects
• Events
• Festivals
• Similar public activities

WDC 2024 Core Focus Areas

Proposals must align with one or more of:

• Arts & Culture: Exploring diverse perspectives, fostering connections and shared humanity
• Climate & Sustainability: Protecting the environment, promoting social equity, ensuring economic/social/environmental/political wellbeing
• Health & Wellbeing: Physical activity, interaction with nature, emotional resilience, social connections, access to food/healthcare, supportive environments
• Planning & Placemaking: Shaping built environment, improving quality of life, creating welcoming/inclusive/vibrant places, culturally important spaces
• Youth & Education: Recognizing youth as drivers of change, providing tools/opportunities/support

Encouraged Focus Areas

• Projects benefiting children and youth (viewed more favorably in selection)
• Homelessness
• Innovative border design

Selection Criteria

Successful proposals must demonstrate:

• Ability to accomplish short-term collective impact or long-term systems change through humanity-centered design
• Engagement of SDTJ region stakeholders and audiences
• Opportunity to prototype and scale-up activities beyond 2024
• Program content unique to the region's cultural and economic ecosystem

Award Amounts

• Tier 1: $75,000 each (4 recipients: Casa Familiar, Insiteart, OurWorlds Inc., The Design Academy Inc.)
• Tier 2: $25,000 each (9 recipients: Art Produce, Blindspot Collective, California Lawyers for the Arts, Outside the Lens, Poetic Justice, San Diego Jazz Ventures Inc., The Art of Jazz, The David's Harp Foundation Inc.)
• Tier 3: $10,000 each (4 recipients: Berry Good Food Foundation, Here & There/Aquí y Allá design residency, Project [BLANK], San Diego Craft Collective, San Diego Environmental Film Festival)