In this seven-part course, you’ll learn: 

• About your scope of practice

• How to plan and co-plan co-design with safety, inclusion, connection and hospitality

• Ways to care for yourself, others and outcomes during co-design

• About accountability, courage and repair in co-design

• About different roles in co-design

• About different kinds of individual and collective care for co-design facilitators and team members

• How to better anticipate and plan for phase shifts and endings

Together we try to build solidarity and collective care.

Seven x 3-hour sessions every three to four weeks with video content in between.

We offer optional extra activities. We find three or four weekly sessions allow for the learning to settle, give space to busy lives and enable you to try things between sessions. The course is limited to 15 participants to prioritise safety, learning and connection.

Typically our course is made up of people from Australia, New Zealand and North America.

Learning is an important reason to do a course. And, here are some other reasons why people do co-designing with care:

• To have a dedicated, structured and regular space for reflection

• To connect with others doing co-design

• To connect with your knowledge, experience and intuition

• To find language for ‘your way’ of doing co-design

• To explore your role in co-design

• To support your emotional endurance

“Co-designing with Care was the professional development course I needed to realign my scope of practice, and enhance my knowledge of accessible and inclusive design. Every ingredient of the course experience was gathered and delivered with intention, including: preparation resources and readings, in-session reflections and activities, support tools and feedback. In particular, and something I noticed above all, was the way group rapport was prioritised — I felt part of a community of co-designers, who continue to inspire reciprocal and regenerative learning. I was reminded of the deeply kind, passionate and clever people that work in this space, and the course encouraged each of us to recognise our role in supporting our fellow co-designers. I now have more skills, resources and social support to uphold my commitment to the co-design communities I work with. Notably, KA is a brilliant facilitator, co-design mentor and coach. It was such a joy to be inspired by the ideas they shape and gather (and to feel as though ideas can be so generously shared to take into my own practice!) Thank you KA — I can be a more intentional co-designer, thanks to your course.” Samantha Roche, Principal Researcher

“This course is for anyone interested in thinking about and incorporating more care into their practice - no matter your experience with design in general and co-design specifically, it has helped me to re-think how I do work and non-work with people. KA leads a beautiful community of practice that feels like a gift to the design world.” George, Program Advisor - Innovation & Design, Alannah & Madeline Foundation

”KA's course has given me the confidence to scope and plan co-design projects. What sets it apart is its approach - the course structure itself is a testament to co-design principles. As we learned, we experienced the concepts firsthand, which deepened our understanding and also empowered us to engage with the topics in our personal and authentic way. Highly recommended!” Keith, Director

“I would highly recommend the Co-designing with Care course to new and experienced facilitators and those who work in co-design and participatory ways. KA McKercher generously shares their extensive experience and insights with such clarity and heart. The thoughtful structure and guidance enabled our group to co-create a respectful, joyful learning community to deeply explore questions around intention, meaning, safety and belonging in approaches to co-design. Structure and pace worked extremely well, building momentum and strong connections over time. I really appreciated the multiple opportunities and encouragement to engage in ways and times that worked for each participant. The quality of the communication, facilitation and learning materials was excellent and delivered in a blended way that modelled the best of what we were learning. Being part of this remarkable cohort has been a privilege. I am still reflecting on the quality of thinking, practical approaches, lived-experience and big questions we covered. Really wonderful. Thank you!” Jane Kiddell, Lecturer, Deakin Learning Futures

Session times are Australian Eastern Time. The times generally suit people across Australia, New Zealand, the Asia Pacific and evening people in Canada and North America.

Tuesday 23 July, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Wednesday 14 August, 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Wednesday 28 August 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Thursday 12 September, 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
mid-way break
Tuesday 29 October 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Thursday 14 November, 10.00 am – 1.00 pm
Tuesday 3 December, 10.00 am – 1.00 pm

Here’s an outline of the themes and topics we’ll cover in each session using the Model of Care for Co-design.

• Assessing the fit, establishing safety and connection 

• Planning and right-sizing co-design  

• Building a support team and co-design team(s)  

• Inviting and on-boarding co-designers 

• Working into your first gathering 

• Understanding and practising accountability and repair

• Bringing it all together: Ending and tending

You'll need a context for co-design in your paid work or unpaid work. It's okay if you can't co-design everything or can only practice some bits. Doing the course without a context is less useful and can be demoralising. If you’re not sure, contact KA.

This course assumes you have some knowledge of co-design already. We look at specific ways of working, from setting up a co-design team or teams, onboarding co-designers, caring for yourself, being accountable and working through difficulties. We briefly covered Co-design 101, but this isn’t a Co-design 101 course.

The course isn't suited to new graduates with limited work experience. Or, people who are brand new to co-design.

This training has a social and justice-doing focus. So, we don’t recommend and don’t prioritise attendance from people working in commercial, big consulting or for-profit spaces.

While we explore facilitation, this isn’t a dedicated facilitation course.

When you register, please let us know about any access needs or learning preferences.

Our course uses a range of learning approaches - ensuring you don’t have to focus on too much or too long and have many different choices in how you engage with the activities and other participants. We give information in different formats and provide information ahead of the sessions to help you prepare.

We don’t believe there is a ‘normal’ way to engage. We actively try to challenge neuronormativity.

If course participants consent, we record sessions to help with accessibility and to support people with other responsibilities who may need to miss sessions.

Please note: While we routinely use auto-generated captions, as a small business, we cannot provide live closed captioning or interpreter services for all live sessions.

You’ll need access to the internet, a computer, and the ability to speak and read English.  

We expect you to come to all live sessions and understand that might not be possible. We understand you may need to miss the occasional session due to family life, work, cultural commitments, Sorry Business or something else. When that’s the case, we try to record the sessions so you can catch up.

Between the live sessions, there is a one-hour video to watch and an optional 1 -2 hours of work.

So, that’s roughly 2 hours per week, more on the weeks we have a live session.