Minnesota Design Team

Helping Minnesota communities plan their future with grassroots involvement, volunteerism and quality design.

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About

Who we are

The Minnesota Design Team (MDT) is an all-volunteer organization that was born of ideals and dreams in the early 1980s. Originally conceived by a small group of architecture and landscape architecture students interested in town planning and design, the MDT today is a well established and respected group of over 300 volunteer professionals.

What we do

The MDT assists communities in planning and designing a viable, appropriate future. The MDT works not only with design issues like main street improvements, but also with the fundamental planning process that allows communities to take the initiative in continuing to plan a future that reflects their dreams and interests.

How we do it

The MDT weekend visit is our approach to helping communities. Usually, the MDT visits four communities each year. Different teams assembled from MDT's more than 300 volunteers spend a weekend in each Minnesota community learning, sharing, and developing ideas for the future based on the community's shared vision.

MDT volunteers contribute to the visit process in a variety of ways. They meet regularly to discuss issues facing rural communities, they review applications from communities who have applied for a visit, they meet with communities during a pre-acceptance screening visit, and they participate as team leaders or team members during visits. For more information about the MDT visit, click here.

The MDT Mission: To use design to help small Minnesota communities develop a shared vision of a healthy future.