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Sustainability news

How dirty are your digital bad habits?

by David Crews, Director IT Service & Support

As the lead for the new CIO-P Sustainability Workstream, I thought I would enlighten you all with some dirty facts that I discovered as part of my Carbon Literacy Course (which by the way is fantastic and I honestly would encourage you to sign up – more on that later).

2nd May 2023
Stage showing five people seated and the Vice-Chancellor standing behind a podium. The stage is under a large screen with the title Wild Isles and an image of a puffin.

Wild Isles: behind the scenes

Wild Isles: behind the scenes was the first large-scale hybrid OU/BBC co-pro event hosted by the OU. It took the collective expertise of the Faculty of STEM, Development Office, and the Broadcast and Partnership teams to make it such a resounding success.  

27th April 2023
View of the River Thames at Oxey showing blue sky, reeds, fields and clear water

Why the plastic wet wipe ban is a step towards cleaning up our water quality

We spoke to Dr Kevin Collins, Senior Lecturer in Environment & Systems at The Open University, about the ongoing issue with water quality, and the Government’s recent move to ban ‘plastic’ wet wipes:

We all know that plastic in our rivers and our oceans is a bad idea. The Government has recently announced its intention to ban wet wipes as part of a wider strategy to help improve our rivers, coasts and seas.

24th April 2023
Student in lab coat conducting an experiement

OU researcher wins prestigious award for her work to empower rural schools in Ghana

Lois Damptey, a PhD student in the School of Engineering and Innovation at the Open University (OU) has won a ‘Youth Exce

29th March 2023
Storr Cupboard logo featuring fruit, pies, plates and cutlery

Go Green x Storr Cupboard: Fighting Food Waste

In October 2020, The Open Universities Go Green network was joined by Ann Storr, Founder of the Storr Cupboard. Ann spent an hour with OU colleagues, inspiring them to use everything in their fridges and freezers and reuse their leftovers. 

24th March 2023

Go Green x Sustainable(ish): Progress not perfection

In October 2020, The Open University's Go Green network was joined by Jen Gale, Founder of Sustainable(ish). Jen spent and hour chatting with OU colleagues and inspiring them and breaking down barriers around eco-anxiety.

Her talk was all about ‘progress not perfection’, and the idea that a lot of people making a manageable change and doing them well, has greater impact than a few people doing them perfectly.

23rd March 2023

Wild Isles: behind the scenes

On Sunday 12th March, the new and highly anticipated OU/BBC natural history co-production Wild Isles reached our television screens after three years in the making. The series, which focusses on the beauty and fascinating diversity of the British and Irish countryside was informed by the expertise of OU academics Dr Philip Wheeler and Dr Miranda Dyson.

15th March 2023
David Attenborough sat on rocks in coastal scene

#ShareYourWildIsles

To celebrate the release of the highly anticipated Open University (OU) / BBC series, Wild Isles, the OU is inviting you to share your favourite British and Irish nature spots or species on social media, using the hashtag #ShareYourWildIsles.

Simply head to The OU’s social channels and share your photo to get involved.

13th March 2023
picture of books on the floor

Giving the gift of a book with The Children's Book Project

Did you have a favourite book as a child? My first favourite book I can remember was Dear Zoo. Now, whenever friends or family have a baby, I always buy the baby a copy (unless I’d already given their first baby a copy!).

9th March 2023
large building on stilts whilst area beneath is flooded

How does climate change stimulate advancement?

Earth is very resourceful for the existence of living beings. Unexpected and continuing natural occurrences provide further resources, but can also be detrimental to us and our environments. For example, some of the natural occurrences are essential to our existence, such as rainfall, while others pose threats to our living conditions and survival, such as extreme heat, volcanic eruption, and flooding. Climate change is an ongoing growing threat that is affecting the survival of all living creatures on earth.

24th February 2023