Sustainability news

As part of Second-hand September, the OU’s Ismay Mummery explores how choosing pre-loved clothing can reduce waste, cut carbon, and celebrate personal style. In this video, Ismay shares practical tips on embracing sustainable fashion, from re-wearing and re-purposing your favourite pieces to making mindful choices that support a circular economy.

The Open Living Lab is a pioneering initiative from The Open University that brings nature recovery into the heart of education. Through this innovative project, OU academics, students, and the public collaborate to collect and explore environmental data, helping us better understand ecosystems, biodiversity, and the human-nature connection.

In this bitesize Go Green workshop, Helen Chambers from Giki joined us to demystify the carbon calculator and show how small, achievable changes can make a big impact. Through an engaging and practical session, Helen explained how the tool works, how it helps individuals understand their personal carbon footprint, and how to set realistic goals to reduce it.

In this insightful video, Fran Baker explores one of the most significant impacts of the Environmental Act 2021 on our urban environments: the legal requirement for biodiversity net gain. This policy marks a major shift in how developments must contribute positively to nature, ensuring that any loss of biodiversity is not only compensated but improved upon.

In a significant stride towards sustainable urban development, Bridgman & Bridgman LLP and The Open University (OU) have secured Open Societal Challenges (OSC) funding for their innovative project, the “Living Roof Live Lab.” The project, championed by the Milton Keynes-based green roof specialists Bridgman & Bridgman, aims to construct a state-of-the-art green roof research lab on OU’s Walton Hall campus. This initiative will contribute to crucial research on the ecological and urban benefits of green roofing technologies.

Last week saw the awards ceremony for the Northen Ireland Business Eye Sustainability and ESG Awards in Belfast. The OU Faculty of Business and Law sponsored the Innovation in Sustainability categories and Professor Mark Durkin, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law launched the Awards with fellow award sponsors earlier this year.

The OU and OU Students’ Association have collaborated and have now been awarded the full Responsible Futures Accreditation, meaning we’ve exceeded the score threshold and have demonstrated and evidenced our commitment and progress for embedding sustainability and social responsibility across the whole institution.

The Festive Season is a magical time of the year. The lights and decorations, the food, and of course spending time with friends and family. But while we all enjoy the festivities that season brings, the environment is not. The increased energy usage, waste, and consumption during can create a significant carbon footprint.

There are things we can all do to reduce our impact on the planet during the festivities. Here are few tips and hints to think about:

Season’s Greetings

The EAUC (Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges) conference, held in Winchester from 24-25 July 2024, brought together more than 230 attendees, including 81 presenters and 20 exhibitors, under the theme "Accelerating Ambition and Impact." The conference celebrated its 20^th anniversary and this year there was a distinct sense that action had to be taken. The opening remarks by Laurence Frewin, Principal and CEO of South Devon College, and Gavin Hunter, Chief Operating Officer of the University of Winchester, set an optimistic tone.

The OU was once again a proud sponsor of Net Zero Week (6-12 July) and this year hosted an event entitled ‘Driving change: Imagining a different transport future’.  The event saw Dr Miguel Valdez, joined by Professor Steven Potter and Dr Öznur Yurt, alongside two OU alumni Chinedu Nevo and Dr Paul Hodgson.