Impact Experience Design. A 10-Hour Self-Paced Course for Changemakers.
Become part of a global community of learners and practitioners applying Impact Experience Design (IXD) to shape mission-driven work that responds to today’s most urgent social and environmental challenges.
Core methods and real-world case studies, forged through practice, heart, and joy.
IXD Cohort incl. Self-Paced Course
The IXD Cohort weaves learning, reflection, and connection into a shared journey, supporting real-world application and lasting relationships.
Dates:
May 7, 2026 – Module 1
May 14, 2026 – Module 2
May 21, 2026 – Module 3
May 28, 2026 – Module 4
June 4, 2026 – Module 5
June 11, 2026 – Peer Circles
June 18, 2026 – Closing
The Cohort Meets Live Online: Thursdays at 5:00 PM (CET, Berlin)
Dates:
June 25, 2026 – Module 1
July 2, 2026 – Module 2
July 9, 2026 – Module 3
July 16, 2026 – Module 4
July 23, 2026 – Module 5
July 30, 2026 – Peer Circles
August 6, 2026 – Closing
The Cohort Meets Live Online: Thursdays at 5:00 PM (CET, Berlin)
Dates:
September 24, 2026 – Module 1
October 1, 2026 – Module 2
October 8, 2026 – Module 3
October 15, 2026 – Module 4
October 22, 2026 – Module 5
October 29, 2026 – Peer Circles
November 5, 2026 – Closing
The Cohort Meets Live Online: Thursdays at 5:00 PM (CET, Berlin)
IXD Self-Paced
Learn IXD at your own rhythm, free of fixed commitments, through a self-paced journey grounded in rich, real-world case studies.
This IXD Course is for you if…
• You sense that traditional change models no longer move people at a deeper level.
• You want to apply Impact Experience Design (IXD) to real social and environmental challenges in your field.
• You feel called to turn your work into mission and contribute to a movement reconnecting people, community, and the living world.
What You Will Learn
This course is your first step into Impact Experience Design (IXD):
A practical entry point.
A mindset shift.
A new design lens.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
Inspire & Expand
Develop curiosity and confidence to explore the role of Impact Experience Design in planetary & social change. Recognize how intentional experiences deepen engagement, empathy, and impact.
Understand & Analyze
Explain the foundations of IXD, including its key principles, frameworks, and tools. Analyze real world case studies across social and ecological contexts.
Apply & Experiment
Identify opportunities to integrate IXD into your personal and professional work. Design more intentional, meaningful, and transformative experiences across both small and large scale touchpoints, from subtle moments of interaction to fully immersive journeys.
Learning Investement & Impact
We are a non profit initiative. Your contribution sustains the core operations of the Order and enables us to refine and scale the learning ecosystem & wild mission.
We offer three contribution tiers for the Self Paced Course, designed to make participation accessible across different financial situations. The lowest tier starts at 99€ excluding tax. The IXD Cohort is a live facilitated module and has a separate participation fee.
Scholarship Options
There are two separate scholarship forms:
• One for the Self Paced Course: Click Here
• One for the IXD Cohort: Click Here
All fees cover the operational costs of running Order of the Wild, including facilitators, community management, Learning Management System, digital infrastructure, and coordination.
In addition, contributions support WeWilder. One of the impact experiences that shaped this course has been an important stepping stone for several contributors and is currently facing financial challenges. Their work combines nature based experiences, community development and European bison rewilding in rural Romania.
Frameworks & Tools
Frameworks & tools from diverse practitioners who have experimented across disciplines to bring to life powerful experiences for social impact.
Real-World Cases
An exciting roster of real-world cases that demonstrate how impact experience design has been used to create relational to systems change.
Experiential Nudges
A series of micro practices and longer challenges to help you test out your new toolkit in the context of your own life and work.
Curriculum
Get an overview of the course modules below. We combined video lectures, reads, exercises and audio. You hear various perspectives on the topic of Impact Experience Design, real-world cases from various disciplines and get tools that you can use to design your own impact experience. Through-out the learning journey we invite you to reflect and test some small exercises yourself.
- After building the core, how do I make the experience come to life? Core tools
- Core Tool: Transformative Storytelling (29:33)
- Core Tool: Multisensory Experiences (16:36)
- Core Tool: Empathy (23:04)
- Core Tool: Regulating the Nervous System (15:21)
- Core Tool: Worldbuilding (10:56)
- Real-world cases: Making Your Experience Unique (Games & Nature) (26:57)
- IXD Challenge 3 & Module Summary
The humans
behind the course
This course brings together passionate multidisciplinary practitioners with hands-on expertise in leveraging experience design for impact - from filmmakers, sound artists, game designers, breath workers, systems consultants, wilderness guides, conservation activists and more.
Speakers & Practitioners:
Abraham Burickson | Adah Parris | Anne Merkle | Alexander Gierholz | Andy Sontag | Benjamin von Wong | Christa Coccoile | Christian Graham | Daniel Hires | David Bassuk | Eleonora Lombriser | Ian Glenn | Isabella Nardini | Jerica Cleland | Lori Cilliers | Oana Mondoc | Paul Bulncea | Pim Schachtschabel | Sam Lee
Course Design Team:
Anne Merkle | Da Sanchez | Seongkyul Park | Faiza Koumina | Sophie Stender | Ben Donaldson
The community
The Order of the Wild is a think & do tank exploring how to leverage experience design for positive change - producing resources, convening practitioners, creating visibility for existing initiatives.
