Online Fundamentals Course

Shifting from Human to Life-Centered Design

March - April, 2025 995 euros excl. VAT

Develop the knowledge, skills & mindset to positively impact the planet and society with Life-centered design.

- 7 interactive & live online sessions

- 1 individual coaching session

- Online learning environment

- LCD Tools & Guides

- International Whatsapp Community

- Certificate of Completion

Design has traditionally focused on human end-users, but a holistic approach expands this idea to embrace nature as a vital user. Life-Centered Design (LCD) honors the needs of species, habitats, and ecosystems, empowering them to have a voice in our creative processes.

Life-Centered Design gives you the mindset and skills to include all life forms in your work and advocate for biological ecosystems and invisible communities.

The Course

During the seven-week Shifting from Human-Centered to Life-Centered Design course, you will work on a meaningful design project of your choice, helping you learn life-centered design knowledge and skills. You will work online and in the wild with other cohort members.

We meet every Friday, starting March/April 2025 3pm - 5:30 pm CET.

  • The course is based on the Life-Centered Design Landscape, a design framework comprising the Conversation, Co-Creation, and Regeneration spaces.

    learn more here

  • You will become part of the vibrant community of the Life-Centered Design School. The community includes designers, innovators, and creative professionals from all over the world who took part in one of our courses or workshops. You will get access to community events, such as talks and workshops.

  • - 7 interactive & live online sessions

    - 1 individual coaching session

    - Online learning environment

    - LCD Tools & Guides

    - Whatsapp Community

    - Certificate of Completion

Seven Transformative Modules

  • MODULE 1

    MAP THE ECOSYSTEM
    Define the scope of your project, mapping its environment

    Understanding the context and scope of your design project is crucial. You will learn to frame a design question/ problem from a life-centered perspective. You map your project's ecosystem, uncovering the interconnected elements & relationships, which is the base for a holistic design.

  • MODULE 2

    GIVE NATURE A VOICE
    Start the research using Non-Human Personas (NHP)

    Empathy with the natural world is essential for life-centered design. You will immerse yourself in nature and report your observations. You conduct design research that leads to creating a Non-Human Persona (NHP), allowing you to give nature a voice in a creative and impactful way.

  • MODULE 3

    PROTOTYPE TO EXPLORE
    Learn how to use prototyping for exploration

    Prototyping is a powerful exploration tool. You will learn how to use prototypes to delve deeper into your design problem. You gain insights into what it means to prototype within a life-centered design project and reframe your design challenge, considering nature, marginalized communities, and the economy.

  • MODULE 4

    CO-CREATE WITH THE ECOSYSTEM
    Use the strength of the community & nature to spawn fresh ideas

    Collaboration is vital to creating successful, innovative ideas. We introduce techniques focused on quality over quantity, such as design walks in nature. As a group, you design with nature & communities and use reasoning to select the most promising ideas, leveraging the power of group dynamics.

  • MODULE 5

    DEFINE VALUES AND CREATE IMPACT
    Making the value of the project concrete and measurable

    Impact and value are central to life-centered design. You will learn the meaning of regeneration & understand how to create a regenerative organization. You explore the difference between value and impact by mapping the impact of your design, making the value of your project concrete and measurable.

  • MODULE 6

    IMPLEMENT LIFE-CENTERED DESIGN
    Bring your project to life and implement life-centered design in your work.

    Executing your project requires careful planning and integration. In this module, you develop an actionable implementation timeline to ensure successful execution. You will also learn strategies for onboarding colleagues and leadership to the life-centered design approach.

  • MODULE 7

    CELEBRATE YOUR METAMORPHOSIS
    Final presentation and closing

    The final session culminates your journey in life-centered design. You will share your final work and reflect on the lessons learned throughout the course. We celebrate your achievements, and you receive advice on applying your newfound knowledge and skills in your daily work to ensure lasting impact and continuous growth.

Who is this course for

If you are looking for a purposeful shift in your design work, then this course is for you.

We help you start moving the needle, have a real impact with your work, and inspire others to do the same. This course is for you if you:

  • Want to learn how to positively impact nature, communities & the economy through design.

  • Want to design beyond human needs and place nature at the core of your design projects.

  • Want to get hands-on experience with sustainability and include your whole team.

  • Move away from traditional design methods and embrace a new approach tailor-made for today's needs.

Join a global community of creatives who want to make an impact

  • "Trust Jeroen to gently introduce you to the life-centered design community – he is incredibly generous with his insights, connections and ideas. This is a great way to start into a complex topic and have someone guide you through the challenges that might come with facing complex systems."

    Julia Weinmann -Lead Consultant Experience Design - Thoughtworks

  • “Understanding what it means to integrate nature into the ecosystem was a precious learning element. Having the privilege to think about it every week for the last month gave me a sense of ease, contemplative mental space and new ways to focus on what it means to reframe our design methods through theory and practice. Having speakers be part of our sessions made it more of a dynamic and collaborative session.”

    Catherine Bianca - Freelance Brand Experience Designer

  • “Thank you for a very insightful course. It Will be helpful in my future work! It is an excellent intro to discovering and exploring LCD with other participants worldwide. A good mix of reading and practical work made it more fun and easy to understand the concept of LCD.”

    Rebecka Öberg - Concept Designer - Interface Floors

  • “I haven't felt so excited in such a long time. This course is giving me challenges, giving me a new perspective and making me re-think my approach to my surroundings! Super happy to be part of this.”

    Tatiana Chajin Cian - Senior Service Designer Accenture.

  • “I'm personally finding my path from human-centered design to life-centered design (HCD 👉 LCD), and I couldn't be more grateful to Jeroen Spoelstra for helping guide my way.”

    Stu Monk - Lead Designer at Scotia Bank

  • "The course by Life Centred Design school was immersive and insightful, with extensive course materials and thoughtful mentorship throughout the six weeks. I would recommend this course to anyone who is feeling jaded or saturated with existing design thinking approaches."

    Sushmita Charlu - Design Manager at Good Design Lab

  • "Completing the course really helped me broaden my perspective of design and provided the right tools to start applying this to the design thinking process. It's perfect timing to adopt this mindset in the current state of the world"

    Lovisa Boberg - Senior UX Researcher at Klarna

Words from Jeroen Spoelstra

The Life-Centered Design School connects my love for design, education, and the outdoors. I've spent six years living in a tiny village in the Spanish Pyrenees, which has inspired my life-centered design approach, which integrates nature and community into the design profession.

In 2022, I combined my 20 year experience as a designer and educator to start the school with my wife, Marcela Xirinachs.

I also run Unbeaten Studio with her, a design agency focusing on co-design and visual communication.

My passion for mountain biking allows me to explore the magnificent Pyrenees and share my love for the outdoors with others.

FAQs

  • You get the most out of the course if you have a good understanding of design or design thinking and practical experience designing as a professional.

  • The time commitment for this course is around 4-6 hours per week for seven weeks. You can work on your design project during the week. The only fixed part is our 2.5-hour weekly live sessions on Fridays.

  • Yes, all live sessions will be recorded and shared after every session. That way, you can always look back and rewatch a session. But we recommend that you attend all of the live sessions.

  • Yes, after seven weeks, you will be able to access the curriculum and course material and stay part of the community.

  • Yes, we offer a scholarship program if you can't afford the tuition. Check it our here.

  • Yes, we also offer the Shifting from HCD to LCD as a training in-house. The in-house training can be on your schedule, and we can tailor the curriculum slightly to fit better to your needs. The best way to learn more about that is to contact us.

Make the shift from
Human to Life- Centered Design

Develop the knowledge, skills & mindset to positively impact the planet and society with Life-centered design.

Online Fundamentals Course

October 11 - November 22
995 euros

Price excludes VAT( Value Added Tax)

What’s included

- 7 online sessions

- 1 coaching session

- Learning environment

- LCD Tools & Guides

- Whatsapp Community

- Certificate of Completion

Scholarships available