Workshops & Courses

The Transition Design Institute offers learning experiences for individuals and groups from nonprofits, community initiatives, academic institutions, and industry who want to engage in systems change by addressing the many wicked problems confronting 21st-century societies and organizations. Grounded in the Transition Design approach, these workshops and courses introduce key concepts such as systems thinking, long-term visioning, and deep stakeholder engagement aimed at catalyzing systems-level change.

Offerings can range from short intensives to multi-week sessions—some emphasize applied problem solving, while others integrate theoretical frameworks and are customized to an organization’s needs. Online formats use Zoom and Miro for collaboration; in-person sessions provide immersive environments for systems mapping and hands-on engagement. A new open-enrollment online short course is in development and will be offered annually.

Open-Enrollment Short Course

TDI offers a six-week online short course based on the Transition Design Seminar taught at Carnegie Mellon University. This intensive enables individuals and small groups to engage with the core ideas and methods of Transition Design. Participants are introduced to key theoretical foundations and collaborate on a team-based applied project using Miro and Zoom platforms.

Customized Online Workshops

TDI offers online workshops for organizations and groups to introduce systems thinking and the dynamics of long-term change through the five steps of the Transition Design applied approach. Teams explore place-based wicked problems within an expanded problem space that includes historical context, present dynamics, and future possibilities.

Customized In-Person Workshops

TDI also offers in-person workshops for organizations and groups, with the same approach and learning outcomes as the online format. These sessions provide for more in-depth interactions and are often planned in concert with an organization’s team-building efforts.