Courses are based on the concept of open education resources (OER), freely available on the Internet. Peoples-uni develops a standardise educational context around these open resources This educational context involves:

• Defined competences: we have identified competences that are relevant to Public Health practice in low- to middle-income country settings (competeces are skills plus knowledge)
• Resources: we have provided links to the online resources which help to provide the relevant skills and knowedge relevant to each of the defined competences 
• Tutors: volunteer tutors from a number of countries help with the interpretation of the resources though online discussions. These discussions involve a group of students enrolled in each Module
• Assessment is made by the submission of assignments designed to see if the competences have been achieved. Based on successful completion of the assignments, the Peoples-uni will offer a Certificate or Diploma in Public Health
• Adoption of the Web 2.0 philosophy: people are talking about Web 2.0 - for us this means collaborative participation among teachers and students to make sure that the education is relevant and of high quality. We aim to revise all the time with input from all those involved

Course modules are in two groups - the 'Foundation Sciences of Public Health' and 'Public Health problems'