The Design Thinking and Innovation in Practice short course at Royal College of Art teaches participants a design thinking model that has wide-ranging applications.

Whatever your level of design interest or expertise, this short course will equip you with a robust design thinking model to apply in your own working life.

Design Thinking and Innovation in Practice is led by Clara Gaggero Westaway and Adrian Westaway – renowned inventors, educators and co-founders of innovation and design studio Special Projects.

Blending rigorous research with a playful, optimistic approach, they bring delight and a profoundly human quality to a wide range of complex challenges.

Over two days, students learn theoretical principles and practical building blocks for design thinking, strategies for improving decision-making by reframing innovation challenges, ways to co-create effectively with others, how to drive innovation within a team and global best practices in how other organisations have used design thinking.

Design Thinking is a means of resolving the contradictions between the real world, with its barriers and constraints and the abstract world of imagination and creative ideas. This course provides the tools and frameworks to bridge this divide.

School: Royal College of Art
Course: Design Thinking and Innovation in Practice
Type: Short course
Location: London, UK
Course dates: 20 and 21 November 2025
Application deadline: 3 November 2025

Applications to this course have now closed.

What will I learn during this course?

– A new model for reframing innovation projects through a design lens
– Experience in collaborative problem-solving and innovation
– Access to global best practices in design thinking
– Enhanced critical, creative and insightful thinking skills
– Improved ideation and visualisation skills for realising design innovations
– Deeper empathic understanding of users and their needs
– Valuable networking opportunities with peers from diverse backgrounds
– A custom toolkit to help communicate your learnings with you organisation
– A certificate of attendance from the Royal College of Art

What are the requirements?

– English at a conversational level and above the age of 21

What facilities and resources are available?

– As this is a short course, participants will have access to workshop materials and slides during the day and will be able to move around the space freely

What career prospects can I expect upon graduating?

This is a great opportunity to develop your professional skills and portfolio and also act as a gateway for students to learn more about studying at the Royal College of Art.

Who teaches this course?

– Clara Gaggero Westaway and Adrian Westaway, founders of Special Projects

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