Benefits

Why you should join us and share your skills.

Be part of a collaborative working group comprised of local and international participants.

There are two participating groups in all our projects: the community and the participating creatives (professionals, students or a custom group). Because our approach is universal, and based on a sound methodology, we are always prepared to work towards solutions with the resources available. In all projects, we aim to work collectively and collaboratively to share, to design, and ultimately to learn.

CoDA also provides resources and strategies to participants on practicing and improving collaborative and team-building skills. Specific activities are embedded within the program to assist every multi-disciplinary team to identify strengths and challenges. The goal is to optimize the generation and analysis of ideas, while resolving conflicts that commonly arise.

CoDA practices equity, diversity and inclusion and expects the same of all our project partners and participants.

PROFESSIONAL BENEFITS

Trips like ours offer designers an opportunity to shake things up in a supportive and relaxing environment and to use your design skills, to work with new people in new ways, to share ideas, brush up on or learn new skills and network with other designers.

STUDENT BENEFITS

CoDA loves working with students. Not only does it draw on our background of design education, but we find that working with students encourages an equitable approach to collaboration. Our trips offer students the opportunity to gain real-work experience through rewarding and meaningful projects.

COMMUNITY BENEFITS

Any community with a problem that can be met through design can benefit from working with CoDA. Outcomes might be the design of new products, services or experiences such as: new craft products, finding efficiencies in workflow, engaging youth through design thinking.

Custom Groups

Do you have a business or a group of friends who want to travel purposefully and share your skills in a meaningful way? Do you want to learn more about design thinking? Do want to team build through a unique experience?

Talk to us about putting together a trip just for you. CoDA’s goal is to provide unique custom experiences for groups that would either like to hone their design process or learn design thinking for the first time. All one needs, is the willingness: to collaborate, try new things, get your hands dirty and work with heart.

The design process is such that different points of view are an asset. The process tends to bring one’s best skills to the surface.

Participating Creatives

Our trips offer participants an opportunity to shake things up in a supportive and relaxing environment and to work with new people in new ways, to share ideas, brush up on or learn new design skills and network with other professionals.

Have an adventure, collaborate with new people and make a difference in the world.

Professionals are able to hone their skills in the field while doing meaningful work. Our projects demand a return to ‘basics,’ as the tools one is accustomed to working with, may not be available. Our methodology is such that participants’ best skills are brought to service.

Benefits for the professional :

Challenging yourself by moving outside the comforts of your daily routine.
Shifting perspectives and gaining broader world view. .
Developing empathy skills through observation, engagement, listening and sharing.
Sharpening collaborative skills while implementing solutions in real time.
Networking with other like-minded professionals.
Using a mindful human centred problem solving approach and design thinking tools to meet real need.
Reaping the rewards that come through making deeper connections through sharing culture and ideas.

Our trips

Surrounded by the familiar, we are inclined to “switch off” and are only prompted when difference breaks our routine. Transplanted to another place – in particular, another culture – our observational ability is stirred and we begin to notice the smallest of details.

Tim Parsons, Thinking: Objects

Participating Students

We love working with students. Not only does it draw on our background of design education, but we find that working with students really encourages an equitable approach to collaboration.

Gain experience, accelerate skills and make a real difference in the world.

Our trips offer students the opportunity to gain real-work experience through rewarding and meaningful projects. Hands-on fieldwork also exposes students to new learning opportunities in diverse areas and helps clarify interests and career goals.

Benefits for student designers:

Develop an appreciation for different points of view.
Experience new cultures.
Learn and improve design skills.
Learn to think responsively.
Problem solve with limited resources.
Work in the field.
Learn new skills.
Inform thesis work.
May apply for co-op hours.

our Trips

Research Shows

Hands-on fieldwork exposes students to new learning opportunities in diverse areas and helps clarify interests and career goals. These projects have the potential to inform thesis work, both within current studies and at the post-graduate level.

90% or more of those participating in some form of international experience perceived increased independence and self-confidence, understanding and ability to engage with another culture and the development of new social networks. -British Council, 2015

70% of those participating in some form of international experience reported increased commitment to their degree program. -British Council, 2015

75% of those whose experience of higher education included international elements believe that they were more culturally aware at work. - Economist Intelligence Unit and Kaplan Inc., 2016

55% of those who had taken part in some form of international experience said they felt it had helped them to find employment post-graduation. -Economist Intelligence Unit and Kaplan Inc., 2016

Everyone was very kind, open, understanding, and welcoming, I really had the feeling that there was an equal exchange of value in this time spent for both us and them, which was important to me on this trip. I wanted to be sure we weren’t intruding or overtaking and I didn’t have that feeling at all, there was only a genuine desire to work together and learn on all sides.

Juliana Scherzer, India May 2017

Participating Communities

Any community with a problem that can be addressed through design intervention can benefit from working with CoDA. Outcomes might be the design of new products, services or experiences such as: working with artisans to develop new craft products, finding efficiencies in workflow, or engaging youth to improve their communities through design thinking.

CoDA strives to provide an equitable experience for the communities we work with. We recognize the significant commitment that the local participants make towards our projects. In exchange, we organize teams with specific experience in design thinking and collaborative skills to create the best conditions for success. It is a priority that the community is included in determining needs from the very beginning and involved throughout the development process as we work towards achieving tangible goals.

With help from the community we learn about local traditions and culture, and respect different world views as we work. CoDA’s goal is to establish trust and create long-term relationships so that community needs are truly met and the outcomes are sustainable.

Ultimately, we value personal relationships and tangible outcomes equally, one cannot happen without the other. We look forward to sharing our lives together over the course of each project and into the future.

Benefits for communities:

Capacity building and empowerment through design
Learning problem solving skills through a mindful design process.
Learning design thinking and creative tools.
Meaningful engagement with other cultures
Gain new resources to prosper culturally and economically
Tangible project solutions in the form of products, services or experiences
Establish new networks via the visiting community.

How it works

Our methodology is based on established design process with a human-centred approach at its core. This means applying collaborative problem solving along with the people who will most benefit from the results.

Design thinking is incredibly powerful. It teaches not only how to define a problem, but also to analyze whether it is the right problem to work on. If your community would simply like to learn more about design thinking, we can organize collaborative workshops to exercise and perfect these skills. This empowers participants to identify and solve their own problems through a sound design process.

Learn More

CoDA did a design-think workshop with my team and that’s something they had never done. It was so valuable for them to learn about design thinking and to see it from beginning to end. Thinking about our values and what’s important to us is something we continue to talk about.

Eliza Babarczy, Itza Wood

Join us.

CoDA trips provide creatives with intimate travel experiences where you’ll engage with communities abroad, apply your skills to important challenges and implement solutions in the field. Our trips offer you the opportunity to work and network with like-minded peers and learn new design skills, while making profound connections through sharing culture and ideas. Join us, travel with purpose to a unique destination, unplug, roll up your sleeves and achieve something meaningful.

Our trips