This Meet-Up explores how regional cultural values can act as catalysts for the growth and long-term sustainability of HCI communities worldwide.

Promoted by the chairs and members of AsiaCHI, Latin America CHI, and Mediterranean CHI, together with the SIGCHI VP at Large for Regions, the session positions SIGCHI Regional Committees as cultural bridges: entities that attract newcomers, mentor emerging researchers, and connect local initiatives to the global HCI network.

SIGCHI Regional Committees have emerged as strategic intermediaries that translate and mediate between global and local levels: with their activities, they identify region-specific needs, convene stakeholders, attract new participants, and nurture local communities through culturally grounded initiatives and activities.  Despite this invaluable work, the efforts of Regional Committees often remain siloed and underrecognized within the broader global HCI community. 

Bringing together representatives from different Regional Committees and global communities, this Meet-Up will thus address a twofold gap: first, regional cultural strengths are often underleveraged in the design of engagement, mentorship, and programming within the global HCI community; second, bottom-up ideas from local communities are not always consistently captured to inform SIGCHI’s global agenda. 

By offering a dedicated forum at CHI2026 to discuss these gaps, this Meet-Up will aim to:

• Identify culture-aware practices through which Regional Committees can attract, include, and engage diverse HCI communities;

• Share strategies to sustain local ecosystems through mentoring and capacity building;

• Package insights into concise, reusable outputs that can inform future community-building efforts across regions. 

The Meet-Up is designed as a highly interactive and inclusive session, combining short framings, small-group dialogue, and collective synthesis. Participants will:

• Reflect on how cultural contexts shape HCI research and participation.

• Discuss which regional values help—or hinder—attracting newcomers.

• Share effective mentoring and capacity-building practices.

• Identify missing infrastructures and support mechanisms for Regional Committees 

All outputs will be documented and shared openly after the conference.

The Meet-Up is open to:

• HCI researchers and practitioners already engaged with, or interested in, regional and global community activities.

• Researchers interested in culturally grounded approaches to community building.

• Students and early-career scholars seeking mentorship and networking opportunities.

No prior familiarity with SIGCHI committee structures is required

• Houda El Mimouni and Maristella Matera for the SIGCHI Mediterranean Committee (MedCHI)

• Zhicong Lu for the SIGCHI Asia Committee (AsiaCHI)

• Gustavo Lopez for the SIGCHI Latin America Committee (LatAmCHI)

• Susan Dray, SIGCHI VP at Large for Regions