Our world is changing fast – we’re experiencing pressure from climate change, growing demands for finite resources, impacts of pollution and waste, biodiversity loss and the extinction of many plants and animals. This module shows how people seek positive solutions to environmental challenges at home and in the Arctic, Africa, the Amazon and China. It introduces you to subjects from the natural sciences, social sciences and technology to develop your understanding of environmental issues and sustainability concerns. You don’t need any prior environmental knowledge to study this module, just an interest in the future of our planet.
Are you interested in environmental issues and sustainability, and the potential for human societies to respond to the complex environmental challenges of the 21st century to make a better future? U116 offers a general introduction to studying the environment and sustainability. It provides the ideal foundation for various environment, science, social science and technology qualifications, or you can study it independently.
Our interconnected world is changing so fast that people must work hard to understand and address the environmental issues generated by rapid economic and technological development and transforming ways of life. Studying this module will enable you to explore how and why different parts of the world are changing, and how people, plants and animals live in their changing environments. It will show you how people strive to manage, protect and revitalise different aspects of the world we all share to secure a more sustainable future. It will help you make sense of the varying accounts presented online and in the media about the environment, from net-zero and biodiversity loss to plans for more sustainable cities.
Studying this module will provide you with the knowledge and skills to become better informed about the causes and consequences of environmental change. It will also take you to some of the planet's most fascinating and important parts in understanding environmental change. By the end of the module, you’ll be better able to follow debates about sustainability and our environment, and play an active part in addressing some of the significant environmental challenges of the day.
The module has six blocks. Each block focuses on significant environmental concepts illustrated by the places you’ll examine.
Block 1: Setting out from home
This block introduces the module and studying. It will start as a personal journey that will equip you with powerful ideas about humanity's place on a dynamic planet. It will outline how we’ve come to understand the most pressing issues of biodiversity loss and climate change. We’ll ask you to conduct your own carbon footprint exercise and consider individual actions to reduce your footprint. Using the framework of ‘I/we/they’, we’ll also introduce actions at different levels of society to respond to environmental issues and develop this framework later in the module.
Block 2: Arctic approach
This block explores the Arctic – somewhere that has long fascinated scientific researchers, artists and adventurers. We consider the Arctic an early warning system for global warming and climate change, and this block will help you explore different ways of seeing and knowing about environmental change. You will also get a sense of how the scientists who now work there – and the societies who have been living there for centuries – investigate, communicate, and experience environmental change.
Block 3: Nile limits
The Nile River basin is a diverse area with many contrasts. This block explores some of these contrasts and the interdependencies between people and their environment. These complexities mean that well-meaning actions can give rise to unintended consequences or conflict, which are also prominent themes in this block. You’ll consider relationships through three important topics. The first focuses on water, including its use as a resource. The second focuses on the environmental, social, and economic impacts of the fishing industry. The third focuses on wildlife conservation and the mountain gorilla, exploring the tensions between balancing conservation with local community development.
Block 4: Amazon life
This block begins and ends with excerpts from the BBC series I Bought a Rainforest to explore the global and local importance of the Amazon region. You’ll develop an understanding of the Amazon’s ecosystems and the services they provide, including being a carbon store and home to some of the world’s richest biological diversity. You’ll also consider the complexities of protecting the Amazon’s rainforest and the challenges facing its Indigenous people.
Block 5: China transforming
The block begins with an overview of China's geography and political history. It then focuses on the more recent economic story, highlighting the scale and speed of change in China, including urbanisation, rising consumption, and the rise of the middle class. This block focuses on a few key social and economic issues pertinent to an environmental perspective – particularly in energy and resource use and the transformation of agriculture and diet. You’ll explore environmental degradation and responses to it, including recent shifts towards reducing local air pollution and increasing energy generation from renewables.
Block 6: Cities and towns
Over half of the world’s population now live and work in cities and towns. This block will help you to make sense of urban areas and understand the importance of cities and towns in responding to climate change (and other changes). Urban areas rely on the movement of natural resources, people and goods. They are epicentres of resource use and major producers of waste and pollution, requiring effective water, energy and transport systems to be healthy and workable. You’ll explore ideas and actions that different levels of society can take – revisiting the framework of ‘I/we/they’ – to help make cities and towns more resilient, liveable and sustainable.
This module provides core subject knowledge and study skills. You don't need any prior environmental knowledge.
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Course work includes:
You’ll have access to a module website, which includes:
Additionally, the website includes:
We also provide physical:
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone, and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying U116 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.
To find out more about what kind of support and adjustments might be available, contact us or visit our Disability support website.
Environment: journeys through a changing world (U116) starts twice a year – in October and January/February.
It will next start in October 2026 and January 2027.
We expect it to start for the last time in February 2029.
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