Professional Diploma in Circular by Design

About the Programme

The circular economy requires the redesign of everything - from materials, to products, to services, to systems. This course provides the methodology, tools, practice and theory for learners to design a different future for the sector.

Integrating a network of international organisations, charities and companies who are making change happen, this pathway supports embodied learning to encourage acting, as well as making and thinking. Learners connect the materials, the production, the practices and systems to opportunities for rethinking and reforming.

The role of the designer in the circular economy is of paramount importance, as is the integration of circular economy principles into design practice and thinking.

This course supports learners to fabricate critical and vital dialogues It creates the stage for new attitudes, knowledge and skill sets which will shape the future.

Who is it for?

The Professional Diploma would create a perfect foundation for anyone who want to build a deep and nuanced understanding of sustainability and circularity and practically apply that knowledge to their own practice.

The programme seek to prepare students, from the broadest range of creative backgrounds, with the practical and theoretical means to develop contemporary design practice and theory within a

specialist award, while benefitting from a broader interdisciplinary creative discourse and

community of practice.

What will I study? 

The programme encourages participants to integrate research, creative practice and contemporarymethods, theory and contexts. It promotes the application of knowledge to design practice, policy-making, and addressing ecological and social challenges across interconnected systems.

Through a combination of taught seminars, workshops, and independent study, participants will be invited to question and critique consumption and purpose and explore alternative methods for designing, producing, selling, using, and disposing at the end of the value chain.

Using their own design practice, research, and experience as a guide, participants will develop a critical perspective on the local and global challenges that industry faces, and begin to shape and articulate their unique roles within it as change makers.

Through live, industry-informed projects, participants will have the opportunity to collaborate with peers and external partners, such as designers, retailers, manufacturers, circular innovators, social enterprises, and local councils. These collaborations aim to innovate and test new circular systems, tools, products, and services.

Successive modules allow participants to develop their specialist practice, their professional,
technical and organisational skills and their knowledge and application of critical contexts to:

● EXPAND creative thinking to support a change of perspective across and beyond the sector.
● CONNECT with social and cultural change to create impact.
● BUILD sustainable communities of interest that grow without discipline.
● INCUBATE agile creative practitioners, businesses and organisations that can change the social, cultural and economic worlds.
● POSITION change from a communication and content led place.
● ALIGN learning and teaching to a change-led view of the world, society, economies and sectors in and beyond Ireland.
● ENGAGE with emerging technology, tools and practices to create continual change in the creative sector.

Timetable

This Professional Diploma is running from September 2025 until January 2026.

Learners are required to commit +20hrs per week to successfully complete the programme. Learning hours per week vary, but typically, learners can expect up to 1 day per week (7-8 hrs on Tuesdays) of contact time, and the remaining time (10-12 hours) will consist of individual and self-led work and study.

The programme will be delivered through a blended model, with both online and offline learning, to accommodate a diverse group of learners. Types of learning and teaching methods include lectures, seminars, masterclasses, workshops, small group presentations and tutorials. In general, learners will be expected to be on the NCAD campus for in-person delivery, once every three weeks.

The professional Diploma culminates in Capstone Project in which students undertake a project that demonstrates learners' knowledge of creative circular practices and theories.