Tunis 
Marrakech 
Cape Town 
Shanghai 
Kuala Lumpur 
Amsterdam 
Prague 
Barcelona 
Manchester 
Berlin 
Salalah 
Amman 
Doha 
THE EXPERIENCE
See the World. Think Differently Inside It.
The medina of Marrakech has been a living design school for a thousand years. The zellige tilework on every wall, the moucharabieh lattice on every window, the geometry of the souks — none of it was accidental. Every pattern was solved. Every form was the answer to a human problem. The craftsmen who built this city were design thinkers before the term existed.
This programme takes you inside that tradition and puts it in conversation with the world’s most rigorous modern framework for creative problem solving. Six days of applied design thinking, built around the IDEO methodology, inside a city that has been practising it in stone, wood, and ceramic for centuries.
The cohort is small and comes from across the Arab world. The sessions happen in workshops, riads, and the souks themselves. And by the time you leave, you will not just have a framework for creative leadership. You will have used it — on real problems, in one of the most visually alive cities on earth.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
You will recognize yourself in at least one of these.
The professional who needs to solve problems differently
You have been approaching the same challenges the same way for long enough to know it is not working. Design thinking gives you a completely different entry point — one that starts with people rather than assumptions.
The entrepreneur whose idea needs a shape
You know what problem you want to solve. You are less clear on exactly what the solution looks like, who it is really for, and how to test it before spending months building the wrong thing. This programme is built for exactly that moment.
The creative who wants a framework
You have strong instincts. What you want is a methodology that gives those instincts structure — something that works when the brief is unclear, the timeline is short, and the stakes are real.
The team lead who wants to build a creative culture
You are not just here to learn for yourself. You want to bring something back — a way of running meetings, running projects, and giving your team permission to think differently. This programme teaches you how.
If you are between 18 and 45 and your work involves solving problems, building things, or leading people through uncertainty — this programme was built for you.
WHY MARRAKECH
A thousand years of human-centred design
The craftsmen of the Marrakech medina did not have the IDEO framework. They had something older and equally rigorous — a tradition of solving problems through form, material, and function that has been refined across generations. The zellige patterns, the carved plaster, the wooden mashrabiyya — every element was designed for a reason. Walking through the medina with that understanding changes what you see.
Creativity under real constraints
The medina was built without modern tools, modern materials, or modern supply chains. What it has is ingenuity — the ability to solve complex spatial, thermal, acoustic, and social problems with limited resources and extraordinary craft. That is exactly what the rapid prototyping and creativity under constraints sessions are built around. The city is the case study.
The closest Arab design destination, visa free
No Schengen process. No long-haul flight. Marrakech is accessible, affordable, and warm in May and June before the peak summer heat arrives. The logistics are easy. The city rewards the effort completely.
THE COURSE
The Art of Design Thinking and Creative Leadership — built inside the Arab world’s most creative city.
- IDEO Design Thinking Framework — The global standard for human-centred problem solving — the methodology behind some of the most impactful products, services, and organisations on earth. You will leave knowing how to apply it, not just describe it. The design sprint session takes place in the medina souk, where the constraint is real and the material is the city itself.
- Human-centred problem solving — Starting with people before jumping to solutions. The discipline of empathy mapping, observation, and reframing that separates design thinking from ordinary brainstorming. Applied to problems brought by participants from their own professional contexts.
- Lateral and creative thinking — The techniques for approaching a problem from a direction no one expected. Breaking default patterns, generating unexpected options, and finding the solution that was hidden inside a constraint. Practised in the Ben Youssef Madrasa session, where 600 years of geometric problem-solving becomes the starting point.
- Design sprint methodology — Taking an idea from zero to testable prototype inside a defined time window. The tool that kills the habit of planning forever and replaces it with the discipline of making something real. The sprint runs across a full day in the medina with a live brief.
- Rapid prototyping of ideas — Turning a concept into something you can put in front of a person and learn from before you have invested months in it. The session that most participants say permanently changes how they approach new projects.
- Visual thinking and mind-mapping — How to think on paper, map complex systems, and communicate ideas spatially rather than linearly. A tool that works in workshops, strategy sessions, and any situation where a whiteboard is more useful than a slide deck.
THE CITY
Marrakech is not a backdrop. It is a thousand-year-old argument for why design matters.
The medina smells of cumin and cedar and leather and something floral you cannot quite identify. The souks are organized by trade — the dyers here, the metalworkers there, the carpet merchants in the next alley — in a system that has not changed in centuries because it works. The light in the afternoon turns the walls a particular shade of terracotta that is impossible to photograph accurately and impossible to forget.
Must-See in Barcelona
- Atlas Mountains day trip — an hour from Marrakech, the foothills of the Atlas offer hiking trails, Berber villages, and a complete change of landscape. The kind of morning that resets everything.
- Cycling through the Palmeraie — the palm grove on the edge of the city — a network of paths through thousands of palm trees with the mountains behind them. Best in the early morning before the heat arrives.
- Ben Youssef Madrasa — a 14th-century Islamic school with some of the finest carved plaster and zellige tilework in Morocco. The lateral thinking session takes place here — because 600 years of geometric problem-solving on every surface is the best possible classroom.
- Design sprint in the medina souk — the core applied session of the programme. A live brief, the souks as the context, and the constraint of working in one of the world’s most complex commercial environments.
- Majorelle Garden — the botanical garden created by French painter Jacques Majorelle and later owned by Yves Saint Laurent. The sensory branding workshop takes place here — a study in how colour, scent, and space create an experience that people travel across the world for.
- Architecture and space workshop in a restored riad — a private session inside one of Marrakech’s traditional courtyard houses — where the entire building is a design solution to the problem of living well in a desert climate.
- Jemaa el-Fna at dusk — the main square of Marrakech transforms every evening. Snake charmers, storytellers, musicians, food stalls, and several thousand people all converging in one place. There is nothing else quite like it.
- Rooftop dinner in the medina — most of the good restaurants in Marrakech are hidden inside riads with rooftop terraces. The city spread out below, the Atlas in the distance, and Moroccan food that is genuinely among the best in the Arab world.
- The Mellah and the Jewish quarter at night — the old Jewish neighbourhood of Marrakech, quieter than the main medina in the evening and full of small galleries, artisan workshops, and places to sit and think.
WHAT'S INCLUDED?
- 6-day intensive Art of Design Thinking and Creative Leadership programme
- 6 nights accommodation in a centrally located Marrakech riad or hotel, shared twin room
- Daily breakfast.
- Airport transfers on arrival and departure.
- Curated city activities including the Ben Youssef Madrasa session, Majorelle Garden workshop, and medina design sprint
- 800 Arabia completion certificate
- Full on-ground support throughout
Frequently Asked & Question
This program is designed for professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives between 20 and 40 who want to think more originally — regardless of their background or industry. No design training is required or expected. The program is equally valuable for engineers, marketers, managers, consultants, and anyone whose work involves solving problems.
None. The IDEO Design Thinking Framework is introduced from first principles. The program is specifically designed to be accessible and transformative for people with no prior design or creative training.
You'll stay in a comfortable, centrally located hotel in Barcelona for 6 nights. Rooms are shared twin — two separate beds, one roommate from the program cohort. The hotel is chosen specifically for its proximity to program venues and the city's key areas.
Registration is completed through the 800 Arabia website Once your registration is confirmed and payment is received, you'll receive a full program pack including pre-arrival information, recommended reading, packing guidance, and your airport transfer details. Our team is available to answer any questions in the lead-up to your departure.
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