Content and structure


CAS Design Cultures – Actively shape society, culture and systems

The CAS Design Cultures offers insights – from local to global – into contexts, living and cultural spaces and allows participants to actively expierence design-oriented mindsets, practices and strategies. Even in the revised program structure from 2025, the programme has a modular structure. Through immersions of varying intensity and duration as well as an in-depth discursive or applied discussion in modules and workshops, individual further training can be put together on strategy aspects such as intercultural competence, systems thinking or participation.


Structure

The CAS Design Cultures is completed over a period of several semesters. The start and end of the programme can be individually determined. Workshops and seminars of varying duration and intensity – usually in spring and autumn – form the heart of the programme; these can be booked individually and combined with various modules. In an individual final project, participants reflect on their personal experiences and challenges in applying design-orientated approaches and attitudes in an unfamiliar context. The seminars, workshops and modules can also be attended separately without completing the CAS Design Cultures.


Target audience

The CAS Design Cultures is intended for people in any function or sector who who want to acquire a designerly mindset and approach and specifically apply and reflect on this in other or future-oriented contexts and cultures:

  • Designers and creatives who increasingly give their design activities a more international focus.
  • People who are curious about applying selected concepts from ecosystems to the areas of collaboration, innovation, team and organizational culture. 
  • Specialists and project managers from all sectors who want to familiarize themselves with international living and design cultures.
  • Managers who wnat to experience the innovative potential of design in selected innovative contexts.

CAS with prospects

The CAS Design Cultures is part of the modular continuing education degree programme, the MAS Strategic Design. This MAS consists of a total of six Certificates of Advanced Studies (CAS). Participants choose which programmes they want to attend and freely select the order. Over a period of three to six years, three CAS programmes and one MAS degree module can be completed in order to receive the MAS degree.


CAS Design Thinking
Participants learn about and acquire a decidedly design-focused mindset and a repertoire of methods for driving corporate and social innovation.

CAS Facilitating Innovation
Models, methods and tools to facilitate human-centered innovation and strategic development.

CAS Design Leadership
Participants learn the key skills and capabilities for design-based leadership competence, and how to enhance their own personal leadership profile in and through design.

CAS Design Technologies
Participants explore the potential of new technologies and their possible applications in the context of the digital transformation.

CAS Design Cultures
Participants experiment with design-based mindsets and strategies in and for different contexts and cultures.

CAS Culture Change ZHdK/ZHAW
Participants accompany organizational transformation projects and help shape digital and social change.

MAS degree module
Participants complete a design-based strategic project and a certificate thesis in which they demonstrate selected aspects of Strategic Design in practice and present an academic analysis of them.
 

More information about the MAS Strategic Design can be found here:
MAS Strategic Design

to the top

Content and structure