What events and community calls does Open Source Design organize?

Open Source Design runs a recurring monthly community call, organizes design tracks at conferences, and lists its events on a shared community calendar. The monthly call happens on the first Wednesday of every month, and it is the most regular way to take part. Conference design tracks are organized around specific events rather than on a fixed schedule, so check the calendar and event pages for dates.

The monthly community call

The Open Source Design monthly call takes place every first Wednesday. It is a community call rather than a formal conference, which makes it the lowest-commitment entry point if you want to see how the community works before contributing.

• When: first Wednesday of each month
• Where: details are published on the community calendar
• Who it's for: designers, developers, and advocates interested in improving open source usability

The site points to a community calendar as the place where monthly calls are scheduled, so that calendar is the authoritative source for the exact time and joining details in any given month.

Conference design tracks

Beyond the monthly call, Open Source Design organizes design tracks at conferences. The site lists the conferences where it organizes these tracks, and it also mentions a recap of talks connected to FOSS Backstage Design 2026, including a note about helping fund the recordings of those talks.

This matters if you are looking for something larger than a monthly call: a conference design track is a concentrated block of design-focused sessions inside a broader open source event. Because these are tied to individual conferences, they do not run on a monthly rhythm — you need to watch for the specific event.

Where events are announced

Event information is published in two main places:

The site's "Upcoming events" area links out to the full events list, so if the homepage only shows one or two items, the events page and calendar are where the complete picture lives.

Getting involved

The site describes several ways to participate, and events are one part of that:

• Read first: the community page, the manifesto, and the "how to join" information
• Join the conversation: discussions happen openly on the Discourse forum, where anyone can read along and joining takes a minute
• Attend a call: the monthly call is the recurring live touchpoint
• Follow events: the calendar and events page carry the schedule

If your goal is simply to observe, the forum is open to read. If your goal is to meet people and understand current work, the monthly call is the natural next step. If your goal is to present or organize design content, the conference design tracks are the relevant track — and those depend on which conferences are running them.

Practical notes

• The monthly call is predictable (first Wednesday), but the exact time and link come from the calendar, so confirm there rather than assuming.
• Conference design tracks are event-specific; there is no standing schedule for them.
• Recordings and recaps exist for some talks, and the community has discussed funding recordings — so not every session is guaranteed to be available afterward.
• The forum is where event-adjacent discussion happens between calls, including threads on topics like usability testing and finding participants.