Social Design Academy Australia

blog | Words Jethro Sercombe | 28 May 2024

Expressions of Interest are open for our 2025 Design Academy!

ABOUT THE SOCIAL DESIGN ACADEMY AUSTRALIA

The  Social Design Academy (SoDA) is an 8-month, project-based program, which supports organisations, leaders, and practitioners, to deliver real world innovation projects and grow their design capability for social impact and systems change.

Facilitated by our team of experienced Social Innovation Practitioners, the Design Academy runs as an online program with fortnightly workshops, regular coaching sessions, and peer-to-peer meetups, alongside a cohort of like-minded professionals and organisations.

WHY JOIN?

Our Design Academy welcomes professionals from a wide range of sectors, including non-for-profits, government, and social enterprise, who choose it for its practical teaching from experienced practitioners, connection with a diverse cohort, and the chance to directly apply skills through real-life projects.

“It has been a great team building process, we now all talk a similar language and have a new set of shared experiences to draw on when we are considering innovation and service design.”

2023 participant

The Design Academy program will focus on developing knowledge and expertise design methodology as applied to complex social issues and systems change, as well as building wider design skills and creative confidence.

The program structure uses a parallel learning and project journey, coaching you through a real world project identified as a priority of your organisation. Each phase is designed to help your team learn key design skills, from discovery through to implementation, and to apply these directly into practice.

“If you’re looking for a program that provides a practical opportunity to apply design skills to a social challenge, that can be completed in one year, with a deeply committed and highly knowledgeable teaching team that do this work in the real world – this is the right program for you.”

2023 participant

For more information on program content, the learning journey, pricing, and the application process, see our Program Brochure.

HOW TO JOIN

Expressions of interest are now open. Fill in the form to get updates about the program and hear when applications open.

If you have any questions on the Design Academy, please let us know. We can have a chat with you before you fill in your Expression of Interest, to help you think about the type of projects best suited to bring, as well as how to form a team within or across organisations.

For any questions, contact designacademy@innovationunitanz.org