Geodesign: Change Your World (Coursera)

Geodesign: Change Your World (Coursera)

What happens when creativity and science come together? The power to design our world is unleashed, providing tools to inform choices about how we live! Geodesign is the glue—it’s a process that deploys creativity to connect information to people, using collaboration to better inform how we design our world.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

This course includes well-illustrated lectures by the instructor, but also guest lectures each week to ensure you are hearing a variety of viewpoints. Each week you will also be able to examine what geodesign is through interactive mapping that showcases real-word Case Study examples of geodesign from around the globe. As you move along in the course, you will discover the interrelationships of both the physical and human aspects that contribute to how geodesign strategies are composed. The course concludes with you outlining your own Geodesign Challenge, and receiving feedback about that from your peers.

Syllabus

Week 1: Shared Languages
This week we’ll begin your geodesign journey by helping you understand that the roots of geodesign are comprised of languages we all share. By languages I mean commonalities everyone can relate to; for example: our awareness of the spaces around us, our connection to place (location), and the way we deal with problem solving nearly everyday.

Week 2: The Three D's of Geodesign
In this second week we begin piecing together some of the key components that are central to the geodesign process. These happen to all start with "D": Design, Decision, and Data. By the end of this lesson I hope you will recognize how these three key components are interrelated.

Week 3: The Three C's of Geodesign
In this third week you will begin to recognize the complexities inherent in the geodesign process.We will also get into two topics that without which, geodesign is likely to fail: computation and collaboration. As it happens these all begin with “C,” hence this week is the Three C's of Geodesign. By the end of this lesson I hope you will recognize how these three key topics are put into action to accomplish geodesign.

Week 4: The Influence of Context
In this fourth week you will gain an understanding about the interrelationships of the physical and human aspects that contribute to how geodesign strategies are composed. Those physical and human aspects comprise the context for a geodesign challenge, so this lesson is titled "The Influence of Context." By the end of this lesson I hope you will recognize that through understanding the cultural and physical context of a place your geodesign team will be better equipped to propose sustainable solutions.

Week 5: Process and Framework
We have been building up to this week, and now we are here-- putting all the pieces together in the geodesign process! In this last week (so sad to say that!) you will gain awareness about the three-stage geodesign process. The lecture includes a overview about the process through a discussion centered on one of the Case Study examples. We also have two guest lectures that share the geodesign process as applied to their work. By the end of this week I hope you will be able to distinguish between the various components of the geodesign process and how each one's role contributes to and is valuable to the whole process.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

The Neuroscience of Leading Transformational Organizations (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado Boulder

The Neuroscience of Leading Transformational Organizations (Coursera)

Organizations need to stay on the cutting edge of human performance to remain relevant, now and in the future. The way we've led the people in our organizations in the past is no longer sufficient for success. The landscape of human capital is changing, and a more human-centered approach is warranted to attract and keep the most talented workers. This course is part of the "Neuroscience of Leadership" specialization, which examines leadership techniques through the lens of social cognitive neuroscience and psychology. Utilizing the latest research, we develop a leadership practice based on the foundation of neuroscience.

Jun 1st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Fundamentals of Graphic Design (Coursera) Coursera
California Institute of the Arts

Fundamentals of Graphic Design (Coursera)

Graphic Design is all around us! Words and pictures—the building blocks of graphic design—are the elements that carry the majority of the content in both the digital world and the printed world. As graphic design becomes more visible and prevalent in our lives, graphic design as a practice becomes more important in our culture. Through visual examples, this course will teach you the fundamental principles of graphic design: imagemaking, typography, composition, working with color and shape... foundational skills that are common in all areas of graphic design practice.

Jun 1st 2026
4 Weeks
Experiments and Variations in Bipedalism (Coursera) Coursera
Dartmouth College

Experiments and Variations in Bipedalism (Coursera)

This course will help you learn how fossils give us an insight into how the early members of our lineage walked bipedally. The four million years old bone of Australopithecus anamensis is the oldest undisputed evidence for bipedalism in our lineage. Similarly, Lucy’s, who was Australopithecus afarensis, fossil also helped scientists discover a lot about how bipedalism evolved over time.

Jun 1st 2026
4 Weeks
Love as a Force for Social Justice (Coursera) Coursera
Stanford University

Love as a Force for Social Justice (Coursera)

This course will explore the concept of agape love (compassion/kindness) as a force for social justice and action and as the inspiration for service and the application of knowledge to positive social change. Biological, psychological, religious, and social perspectives of love will be discussed, drawing on the expertise of people from a variety of disciplines.

Jun 1st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Entrepreneurship Strategy: From Ideation to Exit (Coursera) Coursera
HEC Paris

Entrepreneurship Strategy: From Ideation to Exit (Coursera)

This course covers in the chronological order each defining step of an entrepreneurial project. It begins with very personal considerations related to getting to better know yourself better so as to decide if you are ready for the multiple challenges of entrepreneurship. It then deals with creativity in order to provide the right set of tools to find an idea with the right potential to disrupt an existing business.

Jun 1st 2026
4 Weeks
Intimacy of Creativity: Entering the Minds of Composers (Coursera) Coursera
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - HKUST

Intimacy of Creativity: Entering the Minds of Composers (Coursera)

Bright Sheng guides us through three works — by Brahms, Beethoven, and Sheng — for an intimate look inside the composer's mind. This course strives to give students a new appreciation of music, based on an understanding of the craft behind each work. This class is perfect for those wanting to gain a unique perspective on the creative process of music composition, while challenging traditional notions of how composers approach formal structure, melody, and harmony.

Jun 1st 2026
3 Weeks
Philosophy, Science and Religion: Science and Philosophy (Coursera) Coursera
University of Edinburgh

Philosophy, Science and Religion: Science and Philosophy (Coursera)

Philosophy, Science and Religion mark three of the most fundamental modes of thinking about the world and our place in it. Are these modes incompatible? Put another way: is the intellectually responsible thing to do to ‘pick sides’ and identify with one of these approaches at the exclusion of others? Or, are they complementary or mutually supportive? As is typical of questions of such magnitude, the devil is in the details. For example, it is important to work out what is really distinctive about each of these ways of inquiring about the world. In order to gain some clarity here, we’ll be investigating what some of the current leading thinkers in philosophy, science and religion are actually doing.

Jun 1st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Advanced Neurobiology I (Coursera) Coursera
Peking University

Advanced Neurobiology I (Coursera)

Hello everyone! Welcome to advanced neurobiology! Neuroscience is a wonderful branch of science on how our brain perceives the external world, how our brain thinks, how our brain responds to the outside of the world, and how during disease or aging the neuronal connections deteriorate. We’re trying to understand the molecular, cellular nature and the circuitry arrangement of how nervous system works.

Jun 1st 2026
5-12 Weeks
How to Jumpstart Your Hidden Creative Genius (Coursera) Coursera
Michigan State University

How to Jumpstart Your Hidden Creative Genius (Coursera)

Despite what you may think, there is evidence that everyone has the capacity to think creatively. This course will teach you to be much less predictable in your thinking and have the confidence and ability to generate unique, workable ideas to solve complex problems. Society impels us to conform to its written and unwritten rules for thinking and behaving in a certain way, which makes too many of the ideas and solutions we generate fairly predictable and ineffective.

Jun 1st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Simulation Skills: This is Your Brain on the Future (Coursera) Coursera
Institute for the Future

Simulation Skills: This is Your Brain on the Future (Coursera)

Do you want to learn how to simulate the future more creatively and more effectively? This course is for you. Humans are the only living creatures with the ability to think about and make plans for the long- term future. Even so, our brains don’t always make it easy. Over the past decade, scientists have discovered a number of neurological “road blocks” to effective futures thinking. These glitches in the brain make it harder for us to accurately predict how we’ll feel and what we’re likely to do, when a particular future arrives.

Jun 1st 2026
4 Weeks
Systematic Creative Thinking: Tools for Success (Coursera) Coursera
Imperial College London

Systematic Creative Thinking: Tools for Success (Coursera)

Creativity is a widely acclaimed attribute. A range of creativity tools are available that rely on creativity principles to enable systematic idea generation. This module builds on the first module where various types of brainstorming were introduced along with the creativity diamond framework which provides a guide to which type of creative approach to use. Here we will introduce systematic creativity tools that can be used to provoke a wide range of ideas that might not normally arise and can be used to augment your innate creativity.

Jun 1st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Cameras, Exposure, and Photography (Coursera) Coursera
Michigan State University

Cameras, Exposure, and Photography (Coursera)

Welcome to Course One of Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR! In these first 4 Modules you will gain the knowledge and the confidence that will help you make good choices as you consider qualities of the camera you own, and the qualities of the other types of digital cameras you might be considering. You will learn about the basic functions that most digital cameras have in common. You will also go beyond the "technical" matters and learn about how you can make exciting pictures by emphasizing the aspects of Frame and Vantage Point to interpret old subjects in new ways.

Jun 1st 2026
4 Weeks