The School of Visual Concepts in Seattle is bringing back last year's successful and inspiring workshop on how designers can stop making such a global mess of things. You'll learn practical tips you can take back to the studio and put to work the very next day, and you'll see examples from top designers on how they took a more sustainable approach to their assignments. We'll have speakers from Starbucks, Hornall Anderson, Getty Images, DOE (the design firm), Bainbridge Graduate Institute, Olympus Press, and Eric Karjaluoto from designcanchange.org. For more information on the workshop, as well as to view a 101+ ideas on sustainable graphic design, visit the workshop's website, onehundredthings.wordpress.com. A free event, but online pre-registration at www.svcseattle.com is required. Presented by AIGA Seattle and the School of Visual Concepts Sponsored by Aquent and Olympus Press

For the past ten years, the Center for Ethical Leadership, a leadership development non-profit organization in Seattle, has taught and used Gracious Space to promote the common good in diverse organizations and communities across the country. In that time, the Center has learned much about how Gracious Space helps leaders work with difficult issues, cross boundaries and transform the way people work together. Now it's your turn! From May 29-May 31, you can experience an in-depth training retreat, “Creating Gracious Space.” This is a residential course, beginning the morning of Thursday, May 29 and ending with dinner on Saturday, May 31. The facilitation will be led by Dr. Dale Nienow, Executive Director of the Center, and Pat Hughes, primary author of Gracious Space: A Practical Guide for Working Better Together, now in its second edition. Dale and Pat will share what the Center has learned about deepening the key elements of Gracious Space. Participants will come away able to design and lead processes to create and hold Gracious Space in their own communities and organizations. The retreat will be held at IslandWood on Bainbridge Island, one of the nation’s most innovative educational facilities. IslandWood is an outdoor learning center, set in 225 beautiful acres, and just a 35-minute ferry ride from the downtown Seattle ferry dock. Fees include the cost of tuition, materials, two nights of double-occupancy lodging, and all meals and snacks. A limited number of single rooms are available. Space is limited.

Learn about the emerging discipline of biomimicry and the viable sustainable solutions that arise when inquisitive humans ask nature for solutions to our design challenges. This evening lecture by Rose Tocke and the Biomimicry Guild includes unique images of nature coupled with the technologies inspired by them to tell the story of a world in which humans fit in with the environment, meeting our needs while simultaneously creating conditions conducive for all life. Building on case studies relevant to architectural interests, the Guild’s biologists will introduce the time-tested adaptations of the genius around us. Through the conscious emulation of Nature's Genius, designers of our systems can imagine innovative sustainable solutions that will transform our world by mimicking nature's forms, processes and ecosystems. AIA Members $5, Non-Members $15