The UnSchool of Disruptive Design, Disrupt Design and Swivel Skills are established on three main principles of systems change, active sustainability and creative design for supporting positive and significant change for a future that works better for all of us. Our mission is to make, demonstrate and share and activate leadership for creative and sustainable change.  

We embrace the opportunity to take ownership of the decisions we make to actively reduce our impact on social and environmental systems that surround us.

For us, to live and work sustainability is necessary to live and work ethically.

We are committed to activating and expanding global sustainability goals, and sharing knowledge and tools through hands-on application of sustainability in our lives and communities.

Our hope is that our case study is replicated, copied, borrowed from across the planet to scale up creative, systemic, and well-designed sustainability in action.

Minimize our environmental footprint through sustainable management of our resources including land, water, energy, materials, cultural heritage and biodiversity.

Conduct activities to avoid, minimize or mitigate negative environmental, social and economic impacts,  and to maximize positive impacts. We bulk buy to reduce packaging, always use reusable shopping bags and purchase the highest level of recycled content products as possible (such as for paper or office products). When our staff and team have to travel we purchase carbon offsets, opt for lower carbon transport options where possible. We support digital platforms (like video conferencing, and digital production) to reduce carbon emissions.

Aim towards post-disposability in our operations by reducing consumption and increasing reuse. We go beyond recycling in our approach to waste management, and where possible we compost all organic materials, reduce and reuse before recycling, and are actively working towards zero waste where possible. What we do use we make sure is actually recyclable in the system we are in and ensure that all recycling is done correctly.

We only offer vegetable-centric, locally sourced meals to reduce carbon and land use impacts from meat production.

Advance the circular economy by incorporating circular design approaches and skills for sustainability in our facility design,  programming and practices.

Engage actively with staff, learners, contractors, suppliers, and community organizations to build their environmental sustainability capabilities to contribute positively to the environment.

Support local communities through measures such as locally sourcing goods and services, and employing local people.

Prioritize accessibility to our programs through equity access scholarships or through our volunteer opportunities based on value exchanges.

Foster open and respectful dialogue between local communities and international visitors.

Respect and appreciate diversity of and differences in ethnicity, Indigenous origin or heritage, age, gender, beliefs, language, sexual orientation, education, nationality, social background and culture or other personal characteristics.

Embrace our own learning and work to continually improve our performance. As people who both lead and follow, in both roles, we commit to identifying opportunities to learn and grow personally and professionally. We realize mistakes are part of the process and how we create our best work, and we welcome and offer caring constructive critique and feedback so that we continue to learn and evolve.

We acknowledge our power and privilege and the responsibility that comes with it. We create an inclusive, participatory environment with reciprocal, open communication.

We prioritize working with other organisations that have advanced environmental policies and seek out best practice products and services.

We focus on sourcing products and services from local providers with emphasis on organic and sustainably motivated producers.

When we decide to produce products ourselves we only work with producers who have a high environmental standards and offer recycled content, alternative energy production systems and low impact manufacturing.

We work hard to balance providing reduced tuition for our programs, offering open source tools & resources, and generating enough revenue to maintain and innovate our programs.

As a socially motivated business, we operate on a lean budget and work hard to distribute our resources to support our applicants in highest need.

Between 2015-2022 we have given +50 recipients over $300K of scholarships to our programs.

Our tuition support primarily comes in the form of need-demonstrated partial scholarships to make programs more accessible. We offer limited full scholarships to community members who would otherwise be unable to attend a program at all.

If you would like to apply for a partial or full scholarship, please fill out an application here.

We encourage everyone to apply for scholarships if they feel that they would not be able to access programs otherwise. We are always working towards removing financial, physical, language and time barriers by offering scholarships, diverse international program locations, and online education and free content in a growing number of languages.

We also offer additional access support for those identifying as from First Nations, Aboriginal, Native or other Indigenous communities.

As you consider the program and whether to request a scholarship or not, please take into consideration the following prompts. We actively encourage everyone to creatively raise money as both an up-skilling activity, and a way to reach out and develop personal networks in order to further advance positive change making activities.

Have you had some/many opportunities for advancing your learning already?

If you are requesting a scholarship because you have already invested in a higher degree program or other programming, you may not be eligible as consideration will go to those who have not had the opportunity for advanced programming.

Do you have resources or networks that you could catalyze for tuition support?

If so, please reach out to creatively raise funds from your personal networks so we may utilize our scholarships for applicants who do not have such opportunities.

Have you reached out to your employer to request professional development reimbursement?

If not, please do so before submitting a scholarship request. We have had many of our participants successfully gain financial support from their employers, but only after they have asked!

Have you considered creative ways of sourcing funds?

We’ve had former fellows do trades in the form of workshop hours at local institutions and businesses, run crowdfunding campaigns, and develop products or services to sell.

Creativity is at the core of what we do, and we encourage all our participants to come up with alternative options for discovering resources!