OU Learning Design team blog

Teaching and Researching for a Just Transition: Planetary Boundaries and Ethics 2026

To complement the Teaching and Researching for a Just Transition: Planetary Boundaries and Ethics 2026 the OU is hosting a series of events.

If you are interested in an international experience of integrating sustainability into teaching, research related to sustainability education, and community partnerships join the Teaching and Researching for a Just Transition. Register for the symposium by 17th September 2026. 

There are three online sessions, you can sign up by following the hyperlinks below.  Registration for these closes at 9am on the day of the session.

24th September 2026 –

Abstract: In this session, Learning Design colleagues from The Open University will share practical approaches to embedding sustainability within teaching and learning experiences. A series of lightning talks will explore an award-winning AI focused toolkit ‘Responsible by Design’, Digital Badging for Sustainability 21st Century Competencies, The Sustainability Words of Wisdom Compendium, and the work of the Learning Design Sustainability Group. A panel discussion will then consider the role of learning design as a product, practice and process within transformative education. Using themes including hope, green skills, assessment and eco-anxiety, participants will reflect on current practice, exchange ideas and identify actions that can help them to meaningfully bring sustainability into educational design.

Abstract: The Floodplain Meadow Partnership’s mission is to address the urgent need to conserve Britain’s rare floodplain meadows, and enable them to deliver more for both beauty and utility.  The Partnership fills a nationally significant niche by providing a forum for organisations and individuals involved in the conservation and restoration of this special habitat, to pool their knowledge and resources.  Throughout the Partnership’s 20-year history the Open University has supported and hosted the FMP project.  In this session members of the FMP team will share how they have utilised research, evidence and their networks’ practical experience to influence policy, raise awareness and deliver effective knowledge exchange, advice and training.  The team will reflect on how long term collaboration with the OU has played a significant role in building trust, reputation and expertise,  including the contribution from the OU’s Open Societal Challenges programme,  which supports and enables those outside the OU to work with our researchers to address society’s most pressing issues.   The talk will explore the model of the project, how it works and what has been achieved to increase the target for habitat restoration, and secure recognition of floodplain meadows as a nature-based solution. It will be followed by a Q&A session with an opportunity to exchange ideas, highlight similar work elsewhere and identify actions to extend reach and learning.

25th September 2026

Abstract: Climate education needs to do more than develop understanding of climate science. The European Commission’s GreenComp framework identifies broader sustainability competences, including systems thinking, futures literacy, adaptability, collective action and political agency. Translating these ambitions into teaching practice, however, presents challenges for educators.This session explores how interdisciplinary curriculum design can support a shift from learning about climate change towards learning for climate action. Drawing on climate education curriculum developed by The Open University’s Institute of Educational Technology (IET), the session will showcase approaches bringing together science, social sciences, arts and humanities. Examples will demonstrate how creative and participatory approaches can enable learners to explore the social, ethical and emotional dimensions of climate change, engage with uncertain futures, and develop different forms of agency. The session will also consider what educators need to facilitate interdisciplinary, action-oriented climate learning, particularly when working with uncertainty, competing perspectives, topics beyond their disciplinary expertise and topics which can generate anxiety and distress.

Following a 30-minute presentation, a facilitated discussion will invite participants to explore the opportunities and challenges of putting competence-based climate education into practice, and how curricula, professional learning and institutions can better support educators and learners in moving from climate knowledge towards meaningful action.