Cape Peninsula University of Technology Free Online Course 2026: Designing for Social Justice Partnerships

The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), in partnership with the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of the Western Cape (UWC), is offering a free online short course titled “Designing for Social Justice Partnerships: Co-Creation across Difference.”

The 2026 programme is designed around student-staff partnerships in higher education and provides participants with an opportunity to explore co-creation, collaborative learning design and socially just approaches to teaching and learning.

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Free 12-Week Online Course

The programme is a 12-week online short course developed with funding from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). It focuses on approaches that involve learners and other stakeholders in the co-design, facilitation and research of teaching, learning and assessment.

The course explores how learner participation and learner voice can contribute to the development of courses, course content, extracurricular activities and research activities.

Participants will also examine some of the opportunities and challenges associated with collaborative and participatory approaches in higher education.

Course Title

Designing for Social Justice Partnerships: Co-Creation across Difference

The course forms part of CPUT's Designing for Social Justice Partnership (DSJP) programme. The DSJP programme provides student-staff teams with opportunities to co-create and co-design courses while developing scholarship around teaching and learning.

Who Can Apply?

An important requirement of the programme is that applicants must register in pairs.

Each pair should consist of:

• A student; and
• An academic or professional support staff member.

The pair should be working together on a current partnership project.

This means the opportunity is not presented as a general free online course open to anyone. Prospective applicants should make sure that they meet the student-staff partnership requirement before registering.

Course Dates

According to CPUT's 2026 course information, the programme was scheduled to run from 30 March to 21 June 2026, with course activities continuing through June. The online synchronous sessions were scheduled for Mondays, generally every second week.

The advertised registration deadline was 16 March 2026.

Because these dates have already passed, anyone interested in the programme should check CPUT's official DSJP page for information about any new intake, extension or future course offering rather than assuming that registration is still open.

What Will Participants Learn?

The course has several learning objectives. By the end of the programme, participants are expected to develop an understanding of how co-creation can be used in learning design and student-staff partnerships.

The learning objectives include the ability to:

• Advocate for co-creation in learning design.
• Select an appropriate model of Student-Staff Partnerships.
• Select theoretical approaches to student-staff partnerships.
• Co-create or co-design an intervention for a particular context.
• Apply ethical practices when working on student-staff partnerships.
• Design, implement, facilitate and evaluate co-creation projects.
• Recognise interpersonal dynamics involving privilege, power and intersectional identity.

Online Learning

The programme is delivered online, allowing participating student-staff teams from the partner institutions to engage with the course remotely.

The programme combines online course material with scheduled synchronous sessions. Participants therefore need to take note of the scheduled online meetings and ensure that they can participate during the required times.

Certificate and Recognition

CPUT's course information indicates that participants can receive digital certificates, including a testimonial certificate and a LinkedIn badge, following completion of the course requirements.

This can provide participants with a way to document their participation and add the learning experience to their professional profiles.

Why the Course May Be Useful

The course focuses on skills and approaches related to:

• Collaborative learning design
• Student-staff partnerships
• Co-creation
• Teaching and learning
• Research
• Facilitation
• Ethical practice
• Socially just learning environments
• Working across differences

These areas can be particularly relevant to students and higher-education staff involved in curriculum development, academic development, teaching and learning projects or student partnership initiatives.

About the DSJP Programme

The Designing for Social Justice Partnership programme is a collaboration involving CPUT, UCT and UWC. CPUT's DSJP page describes the programme as an initiative that provides staff-student teams with opportunities to co-create courses and develop research around the effectiveness of these approaches.

The programme also emphasises collaboration, academic community building and socially just design principles across participating higher-education institutions.

How to Apply

CPUT's official course page provides registration instructions through its Learningstore. Applicants were instructed to enrol, create or use their account as applicable and, where necessary, log in as a guest if they were not UCT students or staff.

However, the advertised 2026 registration deadline was 16 March 2026, so prospective applicants should first confirm whether a new registration period is available.

Official Course Information

CPUT DSJP 2026 Short Course

CPUT Designing for Social Justice Partnership

The CPUT Designing for Social Justice Partnerships: Co-Creation across Difference short course is a specialised free online learning opportunity focused on collaboration between students and university staff. The 2026 programme was structured as a 12-week course involving CPUT, UCT and UWC and included learning activities around co-creation, student-staff partnerships, ethical practice and learning design.

Important: The advertised 2026 registration deadline and course dates have passed. Applicants should therefore verify the official CPUT website for the latest intake or any future offering before applying.