CIDQ Annual Meeting Highlights

Keynotes:

▢ Carbon Matters: How Interior Design Can Help Save the World by Chip DeGrace

• Many associations and companies are involved with sustainability:
  • BCCA (the Buy Clean California Act), BlackRock
  • ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance): 500 companies, community of learning. Organizations with inspiration:
    • Amazon
    • Microsoft
• Promote Bio base materials, Improving performance, Paying intention. FYI: Raw materials and manufacturing are sources of Carbon emissions.
• Reference Materials-Book references:
  • Author Amory Lovins: “If something exists, then it must be possible”
  • Author Paul Hawken: "Sustainability is part of the CIDQ exam under HSW. The HSW impact."

▢ The Problem With Diversity: Barriers For Boards and the Public Good by Ian Rolston

     “Life happens in all the spaces we create”

• Need an internal shift in education.
• Representation is key, creating opportunities etc…
• Lack of strategic plan.
• Decanthropy: equity initiatives for spaces and built environments that make changes.
• Built a bridge: inclusive design Interaction:
  • Technology, space, culture, social capital, wellness, sustainability
• Bring diversity, young generation: we have to make our board more accessible.
• Change the system, be strategic. low or high turnover in board members.
• Mentoring, access to kids while they are young.
  • Example: Government in North Carolina, the board has both architects and interior designers.

Regulatory:

• Only 30 states in the US are CIDQ members. Many jurisdictions have no regulations in place for the practice of Interior Design, and of those that have regulations, they vary in having no title act, title act only or a practice act. Reference link for individual regulated jurisdiction requirements:
  • How is the profession of interior design regulated across the various provinces and states?
  • How does the definition of “scope” change across these same jurisdictions?
  • What emerging trends are being seen within the industry with respect to professional practice?
• There are also discrepancies in the scope of services, permitting, and inconsistent language on Interior Design services.
• This illustrative map is not up to date but demonstrates the breakdown by region.
• There is a movement of liberation organizations currently lobbying all levels of government to reduce professional regulatory requirements (citing “regulation hurts the economy”).

Legislative Advocacy:

• In response to these movements, representatives from NCARB, NCEES, CLARB & CIDQ have created an Inter-organizational Council on Regulation (ICOR). In addition, it has created an “overlapping practice task force” to provide clarity to AHJ’s and develop uniform guidelines and definitions for competent overlap of practice issues. ICOR’s overarching goal is for movement towards universal licensure for all of its professional members.
• CIDQ has an advocacy component: the “Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing” (ARPL) that aims to educate policymakers and the public on the importance of protecting rigorous licensing for professionals to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the public at large.
• In the past year, CIDQ assisted five state boards in lobbying the government, and 3 were successfully approved (Illinois, Wisconsin & North Carolina), and the other two (Alaska, Iowa) attempts are underway to revive or rework them.

CIDQ’s Innovative Tools:

• The creation of a new “NCIDQ Candidate Handbook” to provide individuals with everything they need to know about the certification process.
• The re-evaluation of the various practice competency areas required as a prerequisite to take the exam in terms of number of hours required i.e. as of February 2024, candidates will be required to have minimum threshold hours within all competency “buckets” like schematic design, contract documents, bidding/tendering & contract administration.
• The creation of “My Design Journey,” a collaborative video series featuring underrepresented members of the design community sharing the personal pathways within the profession.
• The creation of the HSW 3D Tool to educate policymakers and the public as to health, safety and welfare impacts that designers have on the built environment: Check out this innovative tool!