At the Hasso Plattner d-school Afrika at UCT, we believe in cultivating a design-led mindset to tackle contemporary challenges, identify opportunities, and craft innovative solutions. Our programme offerings empower students to think creatively and develop practical skills to thrive in today's complex world.

Through interactive sessions, you'll dive into the principles of design thinking, learning how to approach challenges with empathy and human-centred solutions. Students participating in the Foundation Programme work on real-world challenges provided and framed by a participating d-school project partner.

As the students learn and are exposed to the tools and processes of design thinking, they also apply these in coming up with solutions to the project partner’s identified challenges. 

The aim of this is to cultivate the core design thinking mindsets and allow students to take this forward into their learning journeys in their respective fields. 

In addition, you’ll gain hands-on experience working on real-world problems, developing your creative confidence and collaborative abilities in remote team settings using online tools.

This course will:

• Give you a deeper understanding of design thinking methodologies. 
• Expose you to human-centred design practices.
• Enhance your skills for the future world of work. 
• Introduce you to working in diverse teams.
• Build your creative confidence. 
• Teach you new digital learning and collaboration tools.

For Semester 2 of the 2025 Foundation Programme in Design Thinking, we are proud to partner with The Parent Centre, a registered non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting positive parenting and supporting families across South Africa.

Established 40 years ago as a project of the Cape Town Child Welfare Society, The Parent Centre aims to reduce the incidence of child abuse through the promotion of positive parenting and effective child management. Today, it offers a wide range of training, counselling, and support services for all parents and caregivers -including single parents, teenage pregnancies, blended families, and those needing general parenting support.

Their work is endorsed by the World Childhood Foundation and the Department of Social Development, and has reached over 260,000 parents and caregivers, over 690,000 children, and over 20,000 professionals and community workers.

Through this collaboration, students in the Foundation Programme will engage directly with The Parent Centre team, applying design thinking to explore solutions that support child development, parental well-being, and resilient families.

To learn more about The Parent Centre, visit:

www.theparentcentre.org.za