Grounding the Course in Place
As the world accelerates through profound geopolitical, socio-technological, and ecological shifts, participants in the Impact Innovation: Systemic Design, Applied AI, and Conscious Leadership program are exploring how to make sense of complexity, cultivate agency, and act with informed purpose. The course invites professionals and practitioners to develop skills for both inner and outer transformation, integrating systems thinking, emerging technologies, and embodied leadership practices within a nature-based learning environment.
Costa Rica is an ideal setting for this exploration, thanks to the presence of the University for Peace's international campus and the country’s legacy as a global leader in peace and environmental stewardship. The Weekend Residencies are desiged to be grounding spaces, full of presencing and connection.
Community Immersion
Weekend Residency A
August 1-2
This immersive weekend in Costa Rica, taking place between Cohort A and Cohort B program weeks, serves as a living extension of the course’s central inquiry: How do we cultivate wisdom, resilience, and regenerative action in times of uncertainty — personally, collectively, and systemically? This weekend has the potential to deepen the course by weaving stronger community bonds, connecting participants across cohorts, taking learning beyond the classroom, and rooting it in place. Through this, participants encounter the biocultural richness and uniqueness of Costa Rica firsthand.
Expect to experience:
- Local Impact Exchange Engagement with one or more Costa Rican organizations working in social and environmental transformation.
- Nature-Based Immersion Guided experience in a biologically rich part of Costa Rica.
- Experiential Workshop Facilitated exploration of embodied reflection, transformation, and conscious leadership capacities. This weekend also features a collaboration with a local hand selected partner organisation.
Course Integration
Weekend Residency B
August 8-9
This course integration weekend in Costa Rica, taking place at the end of Cohort B's program week (yet open to those from Cohort A), serves as the ultimate space for pure integration of the previous experiences. What does it look like to build the bridge that prepares you to 're-enter' your other world and go back home, yet feeling supported, clear in terms of how you will weave this back into a daily life routine, while also feeling deep care through the community. Through this weekend integration experience, participants will be ready for whatever is next while feeling rested and recharged.
Expect to experience:
- Integration & Harvesting Collective sense-making to connect learning to participants’ projects, leadership trajectories, and community impact ambitions.
- Writing & nature based reflection Much of the course experience will feel demanding on time and energy, the intention of this particular weekend is to surround you in lush restorative practices that allow you to lock in your fresh take-aways and intentions.
