Sustainability news

In April 2023, Lewis Wilkinson from the Parks Trust joined a Go Green session to explain more about great crested newts and why they are a protected species. Many great crested newts call our Walton Hall campus home and Lewis explains how we can all help to create a biodiverse haven for newts and other creatures to thrive. Lewis also shared tips on how we can help protect the newts if we happen to find them in our green spaces.

Watch the recording of this session below:

by David Crews, Director IT Service & Support

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.  

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.

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

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. 

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.

On Sunday 12^th 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.

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.

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!).