Fundamentals of Co-Design

Discover the essential principles, practices and process of co-design in this introductory course that equips you with the tools and mindsets to drive collaborative innovation for social and cultural change.

📅 Dates: Mondays in May 2026.
⌛ Format & Duration: 3 x 2.5-hour sessions, once a week.
💻 Delivery Mode: Online
📈 Co-Design Maturity Model Level: Explore/Understand

📜 About this training

Dive deep into the foundations of co-design. This course is designed for both beginners and those looking to refine their understanding of this powerful approach to public and social innovation.

Through a series of interactive activities and real-world case studies, you'll explore the mindsets, principles and practices that make co-design unique. Experience what co-design looks and feels like, while gaining a solid theoretical grounding in its core concepts.

Why do this course?

This course offers a practical understanding of how to effectively engage people with lived and professional experience using co-design methods. You'll learn how to apply co-design at various scales, from individual workshops to organisation-wide initiatives.

You'll gain concrete tools, ideas and frameworks for applying co-design to your own work, as well as a deeper appreciation of the benefits and considerations of taking a more creative and participatory approach to shared challenges.

How is it delivered?

This course consists of three online training sessions, delivered once a week.

You'll engage in a mix of:

Interactive activities that bring co-design principles to life
Real-world case studies from various sectors
Reflective discussions and peer learning opportunities
Practical exercises to apply concepts to your own work context.

Key topics covered:

Co-design mindsets and principles
Inclusive workshop facilitation
Engagement methods beyond workshops
Co-design process models and key decision points
Organisational conditions for successful co-design.

Who is leading this?

This program is delivered by Dr Emma Blomkamp, who brings extensive experience in co-design facilitation and capability building, creating safe and engaging spaces for practitioner development. This course is grounded in extensive experience delivering engaging and educational sessions to participants from around the world. It incorporates best practices in experiential learning and the latest thinking on ‘shades of co-design’ to provide a nuanced understanding of how creative and participatory methods can be applied in different contexts.

Is this course for me?

✅ This learning experience is ideal for:

people new to co-design who want a comprehensive introduction.
practitioners with some co-design experience who are looking to revisit and clarify foundational principles and approaches.
professionals from government, education, health, social and community sectors who are interested in applying co-design in their work.

❌ It is not for you if you:

aren’t able to attend all three sequential training sessions or don’t have a strong internet connection to participate in online activities.
don’t have a relevant context in which to apply learnings - some activities won’t work well if you can’t imagine a professional, voluntary or community setting in which to apply them.
expect to learn everything you need to know about co-design from this course alone. This is introductory training, which pairs well with our other course offerings such as Co-Design in Complex Systems and Designing and Facilitating Workshops.
already have ample experience leading co-design projects - you may wish to check out Co-Design Practitioners instead.

📆 2026 schedule

The next course consists of three online training sessions in May, at a time designed to suit participants in Australia, NZ and Asia-Pacific.

Mondays 11, 18 and 25 May 2026: 2pm-4.30pm AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane)

🕰️ That’s 12pm-2.30pm Perth / 1.30pm-4pm Adelaide & Darwin / 4pm-6.30pm NZ Time.

🌎 Located elsewhere? Find out what time this is for you.

👉 Plus every participant gets the option of a discounted 45-minute individual coaching session with Emma, to be scheduled at a time of your choice within two months of completing the training.

Keen to learn in-person?
Register your interest to be informed when the next in-person training is scheduled.

✅ Investment & payment options

Pricing

Early-bird registration: $795 AUD incl. GST, when you register and pay in full before 30 March 2026.

Standard registration: $920 incl. GST per person.

Your place is confirmed on receipt of full payment.

Includes:

Three online training sessions
Digital resources.
Certificate of completion.

Optional add-on:

Individual follow-up coaching session with Emma to discuss how to implement what you have learned into your work: $280 AUD incl. GST

Payment Options:

Payment
Register directly via Humanitix to pay via credit card. International participants can contact the team to request an invoice free of GST if based outside of Australia. Learn more about our payment options.

Scholarships
We offer two scholarship places for First Nations practitioners for each of our courses, and a discount for participants with an income under $70,000 AUD per year. Please see our scholarships page for more information and to apply.

Access
When you register, we will ask if you have any access needs or learning preferences. You can view a summary of how we learn, what platforms we use and what accessible features we provide by default here.

We highly recommend registering early to avoid missing out.
To provide a great learning experience, participant numbers are capped at 24.
Registrations close on 7 May 2026 to allow time for onboarding onto our platforms.

💬 Previous participants have said…

The facilitation skills, content and level of expertise that are combined seamlessly in this workshop are in themselves valuable to experience - let alone the value of other participants' contributions and the insight you gain being present. I've already recommended it to others and will continue to do so!
- Téa O'Driscoll - Research Fellow (Complex Community Interventions)
I really enjoyed the Fundamentals of Co-Design workshop with Emma. Emma's facilitation style was excellent, and the pace of delivery ensured that topics were covered well and easy to understand. A great introductory session to co-design!
- Lillian Santoro-Woolmer, Public Servant
This is a great introduction to co design, it slowly introduces the concepts. I loved it. It got me thinking a lot.
- Louise Roberts, Carer Engagement
I really enjoyed the session and loved the pacing, the engagements and the activities. I’m really stoked to have been a part of that session. Emma made it all so easy to understand and promoted such great conversations.
- Alexander Quong, Youth Support and Program Officer

👉 Access Information

You’ll need access to the internet and a computer, with sound and a mic.
You must be able to read and communicate in English.
We meet via Zoom, with closed captioning enabled, and also use the chat function.
Our courses always include a mix of presentations, activities and discussions - to keep things lively and meet different learning needs and preferences.
We use a collaborative whiteboard and breakout rooms for interactions. Participants can opt out of breakout conversations and choose how much they engage with others.
We take at least one 5 minute break once every hour online, and at least one 15 minute break during these sessions.
A tech and access support person (co-host) will be present throughout the training to attend to any emergent participant needs regarding Zoom, collaborative platforms, and access.
We provide information ahead of the sessions to help you prepare.
We may record sessions, and include a transcript with any recorded sessions. These are not a good substitute for live attendance but are available during the program for participants to catch up if they miss (part of) a session. During group discussions, the recording can be switched off at any time at a participant’s request.
When you register, please let us know about any access or learning needs.

Contact the host of Fundamentals of Co-Design