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Postgraduate

MA Global Collaborative Design Practice

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MA Global Collaborative Design Practice, Camberwell College of Arts, UAL
College
Camberwell College of Arts Start date
September 2024 Course length
2 years (full time)

MA Global Collaborative Design Practice pushes design practice beyond the creative industries, towards strategic, interdisciplinary roles which positively address social challenges.

Course overview

MA Global Collaborative Design Practice aims to train designers to tackle the critical problems of our time, such as climate change, social and racial inequality. You’ll be encouraged to explore these complex issues from both local and global perspectives and consider the role of intersectionality.

This 2-year course brings together 2 cohorts of students: 1 based at Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London (UAL) in the UK and the other at Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT) in Japan.  Each cohort will study in-person at the partnering university for a certain period of their course.
 
UAL and KIT bring complementary strengths in the arts and in science, technology, and engineering to the course. You’ll explore different methods of interacting, collaborating and making. 

You’ll develop creative responses to core themes and questions that underpin the course, such as:   

  • How can we interpret shared global challenges in distinct locations and address them practically and/or speculatively together?   
  • How can relationality and communication principles, empathy and inventiveness help bridge cultures and enable collaborative process? 
  • How can we develop design prototyping, mapping and visualisation as non-textual languages for sharing and iterating ideas and interventions in global challenges? 
  • How can practice expand its reach beyond the creative industries, in multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral responses to societal challenges?

Graduates of MA Global Collaborative Design Practice emerge with dual degrees. UAL offers a Master of Arts and KIT offers a Master of Engineering. The course will give you a unique skillset to underpin your future research and/or practice. 

What to expect  

  • Dual location: As a student on the course, you’ll spend time in both London and Kyoto. 
  • Learn about: Systems-orientated design, collaborative design practice, material making practices, prototyping, mapping, storytelling and the relationship between society and design. 
  • A collaborative approach: All learning on the course is collaborative including your major design project. You’ll collaborate with your fellow students in cross-cultural teams and work with external parties on live and speculative projects. 
  • Multi-disciplinarity: Students come from design and non-design backgrounds including fields such as the sciences, engineering and humanities.  
  • The design process: This will be used as a meeting point and shared working language between different skills and viewpoints.
  • An ethical focus: We have a responsibility to contribute towards a better and more sustainable world. Throughout your course, you'll explore climate, social and racial justice and learn how to embed these principles into your creative practice.  
  • Teaching: The course is led and assessed by staff teaching teams at UAL and KIT. 

Course structure  

Students and course-dedicated teaching teams from each University experience all units as 1 group. Teaching is done in a hybrid or in-person format depending on students’ location. The course has 4 terms:  

Year 1 - Term 1 

The 2 cohorts spend 12 weeks in their home base (London/Kyoto) studios as we blend in-person and online interactions.  

Year 1 - Term 2 

Kyoto students travel to London and spend 16 weeks attending classes onsite at UAL with the London-based cohort. Then all students travel back to Kyoto and spend 16 weeks together attending classes onsite at KIT with the Kyoto-based cohort.   

Year 2 - Terms 3 and 4 

All students return to hybrid learning from their home base locations to commence their second year of study. When relevant to their work, students can negotiate to relocate to the partner institution for their major design project.

Industry experience and opportunities

Throughout the course there are opportunities to work with industry and community partners in both London and Kyoto. During Year 2, an internship may be negotiated as part of coursework and students are also encouraged to collaborate with relevant representatives from government, industry, sector and/or community to inform and enrich the major project.

Course units

Year 1  

Unit 1: Global and collaborative  (led by UAL)

This unit introduces key themes in cross-cultural and collaborative practice. It provides a foundation of research, fieldwork, critical thinking, problem articulation and prototyping that underpins practical work that is undertaken in future units.  

Unit 2: Making and design (led by KIT)

You’ll gain experience with 1 or 2 digital prototyping tools to explore digital prototyping processes.  

Unit 3: Design and practice  (led by UAL)

This unit uses mapping, visualisation and design prototyping to develop ideas and dialogues between design practitioners, project stakeholders and project beneficiaries. It focuses on local interventions into global-scale problems.

Unit 4: Society and design (led by KIT)

This unit presents knowledge and methods at the intersection of society and design. You’ll learn to think and act critically about designing in a socially relevant and responsible way.  

Unit  5: Collaboration and design (led by KIT)

You’ll undertake a live project in collaboration with a public, private or non-profit sector organisation. It is a test space for interdisciplinary teamwork. It will balance ethical, social and sustainable principles with innovation strategies and imperatives.   

Year 2  

Unit 6: Major design project (led by UAL and KIT)

Unit 6 shifts the emphasis to you to take the initiative in shaping interactions within and beyond the course through a major project. You’ll develop an in-depth design project that responds to a defined societal challenge. There are 3 complementary parts: a brief, research (including immersive fieldwork and participatory dialogues) and a design prototype.

Unit 7:  Dissemination and emergence (led by KIT)

This unit presents the variety of design approaches taken by the London-Kyoto cohort over 2 years. It does so through a collective physical, virtual or hybrid event that engages with external communities, stakeholders and networks at the forefront of collaborative practice.

Unit 8: Dissemination and planning (led by UAL)

This final unit helps you define the values that underpin your practice and communicate your work. You’ll interrogate your practice to help position yourself as you emerge from the course. Your future routes can include employment, research and enterprise funding, further study, competitions and awards, contributions to events and involvement on panels or in publications.

Note: All year 1 units must be passed for students to progress to year 2. 

The award classification will be calculated using the average of both second year UAL units - Unit 6: Major design project unit (40 UAL credits) and Unit 8: Dissemination and planning unit (20 UAL credits).

Mode of study

MA Global Collaborative Design Practice is offered in full-time mode and runs for 72 weeks over 2 years. You will be expected to commit an average of 40 hours per week to your course, including teaching hours and independent study.

Learning and teaching methods

  • Briefings 
  • Critiques 
  • Independent learning and self-directed study
  • Lectures 
  • Peer learning 
  • Seminars 
  • Study visits 
  • Technical inductions 
  • Tutorials 
  • Workshops 

Staff

Fees and funding

Home fee

£6,980 per year

This fee is correct for 2024/25 entry and is subject to change for 2025/26 entry.

Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.

Home fees are currently charged to UK nationals and UK residents who meet the rules. However, the rules are complex. Find out more about our tuition fees and determining your fee status.

International fee

£18,350 per year

This fee is correct for 2024/25 entry and is subject to change for 2025/26 entry.

Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.

Students from countries outside of the UK will generally be charged international fees. The rules are complex so read more about tuition fees and determining your fee status.

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Entry requirements

Standard minimum entry requirements for this course are

  • BA (Hons) degree (alternative qualifications and experience will also be taken into consideration)
  • Video submission
  • Personal statement
  • Portfolio of work

Entry to the course will be determined by the quality of your application, looking primarily at your portfolio of work and personal statement.

APEL - Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning

Applicants aged 22 years or over who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered in exceptional cases. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:

  • Related academic or work experience
  • The quality of the personal statement
  • A strong academic or other professional reference
  • A combination of these factors

Each application will be considered on its own merit, but we can not guarantee an offer in each case.

English language requirements

All classes are taught in English. If English is not your first language you must provide evidence at enrolment of the following:

IELTS level 6.5 or above, with at least 5.5 in reading, writing, listening and speaking (please check our English language requirements).

Selection criteria

We will assess your application on how you demonstrate the following:

  • You are motivated to direct design practice towards social and environmental challenges
  • You demonstrate a capacity to engage with complex problems
  • You are willing to work collaboratively
  • You are open-minded, self-reflective and seek different perspectives and cross-cultural dialogues
  • You develop and share project work through sketching, prototyping and making, whether in design or related fields
  • You inform project work with critical awareness of cultural, social, historical and environmental contexts

Apply now

Application deadline

Deadline

Round 1:

Not applicable

Round 2:

3 April 2024

Digital portfolio and video task deadline

Round 1:

Not applicable

Round 2:

7 days after digital portfolio and/or video task request

Decision outcome

Round 1:

Not applicable

Round 2:

End of June 2024

Round 1
Round 2
Deadline
Not applicable
3 April 2024
Digital portfolio and video task deadline

Not applicable

7 days after digital portfolio and/or video task request
Decision outcome

Not applicable

End of June 2024

All applications received by 3 April will be treated equally. If there are places available after this date, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Read more about deadlines

Apply to UAL

Start your application

Apply now

Application deadline

Deadline

Round 1:

Not applicable

Round 2:

3 April 2024

Digital portfolio and video task deadline

Round 1:

Not applicable

Round 2:

7 days after digital portfolio and/or video task request

Decision outcome

Round 1:

Not applicable

Round 2:

End of June 2024

Round 1
Round 2
Deadline
Not applicable
3 April 2024
Digital portfolio and video task deadline

Not applicable

7 days after digital portfolio and/or video task request
Decision outcome

Not applicable

End of June 2024

All applications received by 3 April will be treated equally. If there are places available after this date, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Read more about deadlines

Apply to UAL

Start your application
or

Apply with a UAL Representative

Based across the world, our local UAL representatives can support you with your application from your home country. Check to see if there is a representative available in your country currently.

Find your representative

How to apply

Follow this step-by-step guide to apply for this course

Step 1: Initial application

You will need to submit an initial application including your personal statement, CV and study proposal.

Personal statement advice

Your personal statement should be maximum 500 words and include:

  • your reasons for choosing the course
  • your current creative practice and how this course will help you achieve your future plans
  • any relevant education and experience, especially if you do not have any formal academic qualifications.

Visit our personal statement page for more advice.

CV advice

Please provide a CV detailing your education, qualifications and any relevant work or voluntary experience. If you have any web projects or other media that you would like to share, please include links in your CV. If English is not your first language, please also include your most recent English language test score.

Step 2: Video task and digital portfolio

We will review your initial application. If you have met the standard entry requirements, we will ask you to submit a video task and digital portfolio.

You’ll need to submit these via PebblePad, our online portfolio tool. Please submit your video task on the first page followed by your portfolio.

Video task advice

We’d like you to submit a 2-3 minute video to help us learn more about you. When recording your task, please face the camera and speak in English.

What to include in your video task

  • Tell a story about a complex problem you see in your local context.
  • What makes it complex? Who is affected by the problem? Who benefits from this problem remaining unsolved?
  • Describe how you might intervene in this problem through design.

Read our guidance for how to submit your video task and which file types we accept.

Digital portfolio advice

Your portfolio should consist of recent work that reflects your creative strengths.

It should:

  • be maximum 30 pages, including your video task
  • include work or experience related to social challenges at a global or local scale within a design or related discipline
  • include any work that is cross-cultural, user-centred and collaborative to demonstrate your interest in social purpose and ethical design
  • include work in progress, sketches, prototypes as well as final outcomes to demonstrate your experimental and developmental skills
  • demonstrate your ability to think strategically and speculatively when analysing challenges and developing responses
  • emphasise your ambition to reconsider future design practice boundaries and roles.

For more support, see our Portfolio advice and PebblePad advice.

Step 3: Interview

You may be invited to an interview following our review of your application. All interviews are held online and last 15 to 20 minutes.

For top tips, see our Interview advice.

You also need to know

Communicating with you

Once you have submitted your initial application, we will email you with your login details for our Applicant portal.

Requests for supplementary documents like qualifications and English language tests will be made through the applicant portal. You can also use it to ask questions regarding your application. Visit our After you apply page for more information.

Applying for more than one course

You can apply for more than one postgraduate course at UAL but we recommend that you limit your applications to no more than 3 courses. Your application, supporting documents and portfolio should be tailored to each course. If you receive offers for multiple courses, you will only be able to accept one offer. UAL does not accept repeat applications to the same course in the same academic year.

Visas and immigration history check

All non-UK nationals must complete an immigration history check. Your application may be considered by our course teams before this check takes place. This means that we may request your portfolio and/or video task before we identify any issues arising from your immigration history check. Sometimes your history may mean that we are not able to continue considering your application. Visit our Immigration and visas advice page for more information.

External student transfer policy

UAL accepts transfers from other institutions on a case-by-case basis. Read our Student transfer policy for more information.

Alternative offers

If your application is really strong, but we believe your strengths and skillset are better suited to a different course, we may make you an alternative offer. This means you will be offered a place on a different course or at a different UAL College.

Deferring your place

We do not accept any deferral requests for our postgraduate courses. This means that you must apply in the year that you plan to start your course and you will not be able to defer your place to start at a later date.

Application deadlines

For postgraduate courses at UAL there are 2 equal consideration deadlines to ensure fairness for all our applicants. If you apply ahead of either of these deadlines, your application will be considered on an equal basis with all other applications in that round. If there are places available after the second deadline, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Careers

Camberwell College of Arts

Contact

Telephone

+44 (0)20 7514 6302

Address

Camberwell College of Arts
45 - 65 Peckham Road
London
SE5 8UF