We offer two formats:

• Cohort Courses: We deliver the emotional culture mastyerclass cohort cours twice per year, and leadership & chage once per year. The cohort is where everything comes together: the community, the mentor support, the three bonus sessions, and 180 days of community access to learn alongside others and embed the work after the course ends.
  

• Start Anytime Courses If you would rather not wait, you can take the online course on its own at any time. The standalone course is fully self-paced and you get 90 days to move through all five parts. What it does not include is the cohort community, the mentor support, or the 90 days of community access afterwards to keep practising and embedding what you have learned. If that ongoing support matters to you, this June cohort is the one running in 2026.

Two ways to learn. The same badge at the end of both.

Both formats give you the full course and everything you need to earn your ECD Certified Practitioner badge. The learning is self-paced either way. What changes is how much support and connection you have around you as you go.

A Cohort Course runs as a guided journey over 90 days, with a group of fellow learners and live Course Conversation Calls along the way.

A Start Now Course lets you begin the moment you enrol and work through the same content in your own rhythm, with no live sessions.

Cohort Course

• Guided over 90 days, learning alongside a group of fellow practitioners
• Five live Course Conversation Calls, recorded if you cannot make one
• Built to give you structure, accountability and a real sense of shared journey
• Set start and end dates to keep you moving
• Mentors, shared reflections and people walking the same path beside you

Start Now Course

• Fully self-paced, starting the moment you enrol
• No live calls and no cohort group
• A good fit when you want flexibility, or you are fitting learning around a full schedule
• Full access to the online course platform and every downloadable tool
• 90 days to complete it in whatever rhythm suits you

Both versions hold everything you need to earn your ECD Certified Practitioner badge. The only real question is whether you want to learn alongside others, or go at your own pace.

You’ll have access to the course & community platform and all materials for 180 days from the date of enrolment.

Yes. If you enrol in a Cohort Course, all live Course Conversation Calls are recorded and uploaded to your course portal so you can watch them at your convenience.

The live course calls are usually held at 9:00 AM NZT. This works well for New Zealand, Australia, Asia, and North America. If that time doesn’t work for you, you can watch the recordings.

Nope. These courses are for anyone who wants to bring more emotion into their work — from beginners to experienced change makers. For facilitators, leaders, coaches, consultants and change-makers. No prior experience with The Emotional Culture Deck is required. No matter your facilitation, coaching or leadership experience, we promise you will find what you discover and learn on this course valuable - and if you don't, we'll give your money back!

Yes. Once you complete all required lessons and submit your final reflections, you'll receive an ECD Certified Practitioner Badge for that course specialty.

You can keep using the tools in your own practice. If you'd like to go further, you can continue along our ECD Certified Pathway to unlock status badges and rewards—or fast-track to Certified Consultant level. Becoming a Consultant means you're endorsed by riders&elephants and authorised to deliver our ECD Specialist Courses and certify new ECD Practitioners. To take this next step, you can join our ECD Consultant Development Programme to deepen your learning and become certified to train others.

Yes. Each course is one of our four ECD Specialist Courses. Completing one makes you an ECD Certified Practitioner and starts your pathway toward becoming an ECD Certified Consultant. Click here to read about our ECD Certified Pathway >

For cohort-based courses, we recommend setting aside 60–90 minutes per week across five weeks to complete the weekly lessons and attend (or review) the live calls.

For Start Anytime self-paced courses, you have full flexibility. Some people complete it in a few days, others spread it out over the full 90-day access period. It’s entirely up to your schedule and pace.

We also offer two learning paths inside each course:

• Fast Track: The minimum time commitment to complete the core video lessons and required activities to receive your Practitioner badge (approximately 4–5 hours total).

• Deep Dive: A more immersive path that includes additional learning resources, reflection challenges, bonus lessons and facilitation prompts to embed the learning more deeply (approximately 8–10+ hours total). Deep Dive generally takes about twice the time of the Fast Track path.

The digital-only course option gives you access to all course materials and downloads as PDFs, which you can print and use at your own pace.

When you choose to add on physical toolkits, you receive professionally printed resources—such as card decks, handbooks, and workshop guides—shipped directly to your address for those who prefer tactile tools.

If you order the physical toolkit, you’ll still receive full access to the digital toolkit as well.

Do I need to purchase a physical deck to complete the course? No. You can complete the course using the downloadable version of The ECD. But many learners choose to add physical decks for practice or future facilitation.

Learn how having one physical deck per person reduces groupthink and herd mentality. 

Yes. You can order additional decks or toolkits anytime from our online store. Community members receive a 35% discount on all R&E courses and cards.

Absolutely. The tools and mindset you’ll learn are valuable whether you’re a team member, facilitator, coach, HR professional, or leader.

Yes. Each course teaches you how to confidently deliver ECD workshops using the tools in that speciality area (Culture, Leadership, Change, or Stakeholder).

Yes. Some Practitioners choose to complete multiple Specialist Courses simultaneously, but we recommend focusing on one at a time to get the most from the experience.

Some of our courses have been recognised by professional bodies. 

Our Emotional Change Strategy Course (when completed in-person by an ECD Certified Consultant) is recognised by ACMP for 5 hours of professional development. Online self-paced versions are not currently ACMP or ICF accredited.

If you’re enrolling a team of three or more people and are based in New Zealand, you can choose to pay via invoice.

For all other enrolments—including anyone outside of New Zealand—payment must be made online by credit card at checkout.

Yes, but all in-person courses are delivered by our global network of independant Certified Partners — not directly by riders&elephants team.

These Certified Partners deliver their courses using our official course curriculum. This means all in-person courses are independently scheduled, priced, and managed by them.

To find out if there’s an in-person course happening near you:

• Click here to find an upcoming public course near you — we update them as new courses are announced.

• Or get in touch directly with a Certified Consultant & Master in your region.

• Click here to find an ECD Certified Partner near you >

All enrolments and logistics for in-person public courses are handled by the individual Partner delivering the course.

Yes! We can bring the course to your workplace (virtually or in-person). It’s a great way to build shared language, capability, and skills across your team.

To explore this option, email us with some details about your team and what you’re looking for.

Yes! All learners join our global Elephant Rider community for 180 days, where you can ask questions, join events, and share bright spots. If you're part of a cohort course, you’ll also meet others in live calls. Many course participants mention that the learning that comes from within our community is what helps their confidence and skills grow the most!

The Emotional Culture Deck has been translated into 12+ langages so far. Some of our core course tools have been translated too. If you’re working with a non-English-speaking group, reach out, and we’ll see what’s available.

While all four ECD Specialist Courses are built on the same emotional culture methodology, there are two layers to the learning:

• Cross-Speciality Tools: These core tools appear across multiple courses and can be applied in any context. Each course teaches you how to use them with different emotional intentions and subtle facilitation shifts depending on the focus—these nuances are where the magic happens.

• Speciality-Specific Tools: Each course also introduces a unique set of tools, canvases, and conversation guides tailored to its specific leadership challenge:

  • Culture Crafting: For shaping team or organisational culture.

  • Leadership Development: For helping leaders grow and lead emotionally.

  • Change Strategy: For supporting teams and people through change.

  • Stakeholder Engagement: For building emotionally connected external partnerships and customer experiences.

If you complete all four ECD Specialist Courses, you will learn all the tools across our four ECD Frameworks. You’ll start to see how the work connects—and how to move from one-off workshops to defining end-to-end ECD journeys and emotional programmes. That’s exactly what our Certified Consultant Development Programme helps you master.