Sustainability Resources

Green Gown Awards 2023

We were highly commended for our work at the Green Gown Awards 2023. To see what the judges thought about our work you can follow the link to the Green Gown Awards page.

We’ve created a series of top tips about applying for the Green Gown Awards, based on our experience:

Planning Teamwork Stage 1 Stage 2

Case studies

The case studies showcase how some of the resources in this list were used to support the design process at the OU

Case Study 1 Case Study 2 Case Study 3

Sustainability skills cards

These sets of cards support actionable ways to connect with sustainability. They also take the language used by UNESCO and connect it with existing OU frameworks to support the development of learning outcomes and/or activity design. You may have come across our skills cards via the OpenLearn Sustainability Hub page that they sit on. You can also access them directly below.

Ways of thinking Ways of practicing Ways of being

A twelve minute slidecast has been created to help support colleagues to consider how the skills cards may support the creation of learning outcomes.

Adapted from the workshop we presented at the ALT conference 2023 (ref: oro.open.ac.uk/96825), this is designed to help you engage with sustainability skills (using the skills cards). It can empower you to systematically reflect upon how to meaningfully embed skills for a sustainable future into the learning journey that students undertake in your context.

Resources to prompt thinking about sustainability in module design

These are the list of resources we have developed. Resources 4a, 4b and 4c below have been incorporated within a course on OpenLearn called ‘Supporting climate action through digital education‘. You can also hear us talk more about our resources on a recent podcast episode ‘What can Jurassic Park teach us about embedding sustainability in course design?‘ and ‘Treasure Island Pedagogies – Episode 39: The one with the Twix‘

1 ‘Sustainability Principles in Module Design’ to raise awareness that support is available for discussions about embedding sustainability.

2 ‘Sustainability Resources in HE’ grouped by theme for ease of navigation.

3 ‘Where to begin’ to narrow the focus of where to begin your thinking about how to connect with sustainability in the design process.

4a Key competencies – ways of thinking 4b Key competencies – ways of practicing 4c Key competencies – ways of being

5 ‘Student Voice’ to encourage the use of student voice in the co-design of learning experiences.

6 ‘Existing resources on OpenLearn’ spotlights the Sustainability Hub on OpenLearn.

7 ‘Connecting with the role of HE in sustainability’ signposting to a framework shared by QAA and Advance HE about embedding sustainability within the student journey.

Crib sheet guidance for all seven prompt resources to help colleagues connect with and use them

Scholarship Outputs

Presented at the 2023 EDEN conference, this poster provides an overview of the seven prompt resources that help support thinking about sustainability. It also contains a link to a video about the purpose of the poster (ref: oro.open.ac.uk/89924).

Our poster ‘learning design as a catalyst for embedding sustainability’, presented at the 2025 Advance HE symposium ‘From embedding to embodying ESD’. This poster shares top tips from our work so far and insights into the impact of student voice (ref: oro.open.ac.uk/103390).

Our Sustainability Blog Posts

References (for work undertaken by our Sustainability Learning Design team)

Astles, P and Matthews, C (2025) Communicating sustainability competencies: a case study of sustainability and learning design, in W. Leal Filho (ed.) Education for Sustainable Development: The Contribution of Universities, Springer Cham.

Astles, P., Openshaw, J., Calder, K. and Johns, H. Supporting Sustainability in a Distance Learning Curriculum. oro.open.ac.uk. [Online] 2023. https://oro.open.ac.uk/89924/.

Astles, P., Calder, K., Johns, H. and Openshaw, J. What is non-tokenistic sustainability in a distance learning curriculum? . oro.open.ac.uk. [Online] 2023. https://oro.open.ac.uk/89931/.

Astles, P. and Johns, H. Does anyone know what sustainability means???? Developing practical approaches to supporting non-tokenistic actions to promote sustainability in a distance learning curriculum. oro.open.ac.uk. [Online] 2023. https://oro.open.ac.uk/96825/.

Astles, P. and Matthews, C. Sustainability and Learning Outcomes. YouTube. [Online] 2024. https://youtu.be/Pzge5MRcUI4?si=1nPTnUc3TTkteDRP.

Braun, M. et al. ESTEEM project . [Online] 2024. https://www5.open.ac.uk/scholarship-and-innovation/esteem/projects/themes/innovative-assessment/engaging-physics-students-with-key-competencies-sustainability.

Calder, K., Astles, P., Johns, H., Matthews, C. and Openshaw., J. Going for Green: Learning Design sustainability champions . OU Learning Design team blog. [Online] 2024. https://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/learning-design/?p=1884.

Calder, K. and Florack, F. The EAUC Annual Conference 2023: in Kathleen and Franzi’s words. [Online] 2023. https://www5.open.ac.uk/sustainability/news/eauc-annual-conference-2023-kathleen-and-franzis-words.

Calder, K, Matthews, C and Astles, P (2025). Learning design as a catalyst for embedding sustainability. In: Advance HE Sustainability Symposium 2025: From embedding to embodying ESD, 18 Mar 2025, Online. https://oro.open.ac.uk/103390/

Johns, H. and Astles., P. Reflections on ALT conference 2023: Supporting colleagues to take practical actions to embed sustainability. OU Learning Design team blog. [Online] 2023. https://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/learning-design/?p=1770.

Learning Design. Learning Design resources to support embedding sustainability competencies and learning outcomes in course materials. OpenLearn. [Online] The Open University, 2024. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education-development/learning/learning-design-resources-support-embedding-sustainability-competencies-and-learning-outcomes-course-materials.

Learning Design. The Open University Learning Design Sustainability Group . Green Gown Awards UK & Ireland. [Online] 2023. https://www.greengownawards.org/the-open-university-learning-design-sustainabil.

Mycroft, L., McCarthy, L., Astles, P., Matthews, C. and Gough, G. Breaking down silos and increasing awareness: Connecting ESD and green skills. EAUC annual conference. [Online] 2024. https://oro.open.ac.uk/98461/.

Openshaw, J. and Astles., P. Sustainability: Our journey to connect colleagues with non-tokenistic action in the design process. OU Learning Design team blog. [Online] 2023. https://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/learning-design/?p=1683.