The Stirling Centre for Strategic Learning and Innovation, on October 10, 2026 launched the fourth cohort of it's Certified Organisational Learning Professional (COLP) programme.

The new cohort brings together professionals from Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Lebanon, Pakistan, Portugal, Scotland, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Kosovo.

COLP is the Stirling Centre's flagship qualification, equipping managers, HR and learning
professionals, quality leaders and public servants to turn everyday experience into lasting
organisational capability. The programme draws on the Learning-Driven Organisation (LDO) Model, co-developed by Prof. Alaa Garad and Prof. Jeff Gold and published by Bloomsbury in
2021.

The cohort runs for eight weeks through hybrid approach of online and on site sessions, held
twice a week for two hours each.

Participants work through practical tools that close real
performance gaps, including benchmarking, feedback and listening systems, staff suggestion schemes and action learning sets. Each participant applies what they learn to a live challenge in their own organisation.

The Stirling Centre is this year applying the international mix as a deliberate platform for participants to test ideas against the experience of other colleagues where deepest learning situations are engineered.

“Every cohort teaches us something new, and this one will be no exception. When people from ten countries sit around the same table, they stop assuming
their way is the only way. That moment of curiosity is where organisational learning begins. Our aim is simple: graduates who return to their organisations
are able to help them learn faster than the world around them changes,” Prof. Alaa Garad, President and Founder of the Stirling Centre, said.

Dr. Donald Cog Senanu Agumenu, the African Director of the Stirling Centre for Strategic Learning & Innovation, observes that the fourth cohort is timely and strategic for business leaders and institutions in this current wave of artificial intelligence where continuous learning is imperative.

“This cohort certification has an embedded artificial intelligence framework —how companies and institutions can continue to be very competitive in this digital revolution age.

He called on all business captains, government agencies as well as non-governmental
organisations to register and be a part of this innovative programme.

The fourth cohort follows growing demand for the COLP suite, which now includes sector
variants for educators (CLDE) and a dedicated government programme, COLP-GOV, currently being piloted with the Egyptian Government.

Organisations and individuals interested in future COLP cohorts can find details at
stirlingcentre.org.uk/colp. Government bodies can explore COLP-GOV at stirlingcentre.org.uk/colp-gov.

• About the Stirling Centre:

The Stirling Centre for Strategic Learning and Innovation is based at the University of Stirling Innovation Park, Scotland. It helps universities, governments and organisations build learning-driven cultures through assessment, policy research, international affairs, governance,
leadership, professional education and advisory work.

The Centre holds Qualifications Scotland (SQA) Centre Approval for SCQF Level 8 delivery and operates across the UK, the Gulf, the Western Balkans, Egypt and Africa.

• About Prof. Alaa Garad:

Prof. Garad has researched organisational learning since 2001 and is author of The Learning-Driven Business. In March 2022 he received the Headline UK Excellence Award from HRH The Princess Royal, presented through the British Quality Foundation. He is Editorin-Chief of the International Journal of Strategy and Organisational Learning (IJSOL).

• Programme format:

Eight weeks, live online, two 2-hour sessions per week.

• Images and interviews:

Photographs and interviews with Prof. Garad and cohort participants are available on request.

Media contact:
Prof. Alaa Garad, President and Founder, The Stirling Centre for Strategic Learning and Innovation
Email: alaa@stirlingcentre.org.uk
Phone: +447491877138
Web: stirlingcentre.org.uk

Dr. Donald Cog Senanu Agumenu
Africa Regional Director, The Stirling Centre for Strategic Learning and Innovation
Email:
donald@stirlingcentre.org.uk
Phone: +233242147198
The Stirling Centre · University of Stirling Innovation Park, Scotland · stirlingcentre.org