Design for Cultural Design for Cultural Commons – PG Cert

Why study this course?

Do you find yourself concerned by current problems of social and economic inequality? Are you seeking a solution which could support methods to instigate power shifts? “The Commons” as a field of study is considered to offer this very solution.

This postgraduate certificate offers a unique opportunity to rigorously interrogate new forms of practice; to challenge unequal power relations; to question planetary resource extraction and to tackle the inequalities of market-focussed capitalism. Modules for this certificate examine the history and theory of commons and a detailed look at commoning practice. If you’re looking to develop financially stable practices for delivering ethical services and products, the modules on this course will put you well on your way. This course also enables you to interrogate or intervene in an existing organisation/institution.

More about this course

Whether you are already involved in social or political practice, or looking to be, this PG Cert will help you to uncover the history and theory of Commons, and to apply this to your own experiences, in turn setting the brief for your own practice.

You may be:

• An existing practitioner who wants to critically reflect on their practice and analyse where to go next using the Commons as a tool for analysis or as a way to frame your practice.
• An artist, designer, architect or urban designer interested in developing innovative new forms of social and ecological practice that are not offered in the conventional training of your discipline. You will learn to articulate a social, ethical and Commons-based practice which is financially sustainable.
• An employee in an institution or organisation who wants to reflect on your role. Either to gain more agency, to have an impact or to develop a new socially responsible and Commons-based area within the institution.

Most of our students are mid-career practitioners looking to change the direction of their career, often finding their current work environment at odds with their beliefs and interests. If you are looking to embark on a new career path working with communities and in the public sector, the course material will help you to mediate between these worlds and learn best practices for working with communities. The course’s methodology will support you to undertake mapping exercises based on your skills, career path and interests. In turn you’ll work to draw out a unique new organisational model tailored to your passion, analysing your needs against the modern macro-political context.

In this supportive, mentoring environment, your modules will act as laboratories for innovating fair, ecological and democratic forms of cultural practice relevant to the networked, decentralised and interconnected (glocal) world of tomorrow.

Gaining this PG Cert qualification can also support the development of Mphil and Phd proposals if you are keen to pursue a further qualification. 

Accreditation of Prior Learning

Any university-level qualifications or relevant experience you gain prior to starting university could count towards your course.

Modular structure

The modules listed below are for the academic year 2022/23 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.

Year 1 modules include:

Commoning Practice (core, 40 credits)

History and Theory of Commons (core, 20 credits)

Where this course can take you

This course can help you to gain a new or higher position in an existing job or help you set up an organisation if you want to start your own practice. You’ll rigorously and factually develop your future career with confidence and support from the expertise of the lecturers, practitioners and academics who teach on the course.