Making HOPE Contagious Together: How We Can Ensure More People BECOME Changemakers
By RLabs
May 29, 2026
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We live in a world where social challenges feel relentless. On the bright side though, we observe the solution every day in the people who face them. The residents in our communities navigate these realities with a natural creativity and resilience that the world needs right now. That is why RLabs joined forces with the Bertha Centre at the UCT Graduate School of Business. We wanted to make sure that anyone, anywhere, can access the tools they need to drive real change.
Together, we created “Becoming a Changemaker: Introduction to Social Innovation.” This is a free, six-week course hosted on Coursera, that gives you 19 hours of practical, structured guidance. So far, more than 118,000 learners from across the globe have joined us. With a 4.8-star rating and a 98% satisfaction rate, our students are telling us that this material actually works for them in their own neighborhoods.
Here are a few reviews from just over 1500 satisfied students:
“The course was an eye opener. The lectures were very interesting, very well explained with excellent examples. All the course instructors were very good in their job, I especially loved Dr. Francois’s classes. He was very clear and crisp in his teaching and provided very good and easy-to-understand examples. The case studies were also very good. RLabs’ stupendous growth was amazing.”
– Arthi Pattabiraman
“Talk about a game changer of a course! The stories were inspiring, the instructors enlightening, and the coursework motivating. I loved the connections made between what is really going on in the world and the course content- it really empowered us to believe we could make a difference!”
– Asante Tracey
“This is a fantastic course (and I have many years of university and other studies under my belt). The information is very digestible and framed by the real-world example of the successful RLabs project. This course is also inspiring and has a real feeling of kinship and warmth. If you care about changing the world for the better, this course will benefit you whatever stage you are at. THANK YOU EVERYONE AT RLABS!!”
– Adrian Zupp
The evidence of its efficacy is clear, and please feel free to explore the thousands of other reviews on the course page. Let’s look at what this course will offer you
*above is an example of a public system improved by the application of insights from this course.
Learn How to Solve Real Problems
We designed this journey to help you look at the world differently. Through modules like “What’s our problem?” and “Changing the system,” you will learn how to dig past the surface to find the root causes of issues. We focus on teaching you systems thinking and human-centered design, because these are the skills you need to navigate today’s economy and social landscape.
We Bring the Classroom into the Community
We believe that learning is better when you do it together. While the course is online, we support our students through the RLabs network of physical spaces. In places like Westridge, you can meet other learners, trade ideas, and turn your digital lessons into tangible local projects. We use these hubs to bridge the gap between watching a video and taking real-world action.
A Partnership Built on Experience
This collaboration works because we bring different strengths to the table. RLabs shares over a decade of experience in grassroots innovation and youth empowerment across 24 countries. The Bertha Centre provides the academic depth and research excellence of a world-class business school. We have closed the gap between university theory and lived experience to make sure your education is both credible and useful.
Your Pathway to Action
Through the RLabsU initiative, we are removing the cost barriers that usually keep people away from high-quality education. We want to help you move from simply identifying a problem to launching an actionable idea.
More than just providing a course, we are opening a door. And thousands of people are stepping through that door to claim their agency and start leading their communities.