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What you will study

On this undergraduate microcredential, you’ll gain the skills, knowledge and confidence to make a positive change in your organisation. During this 10-week course, you’ll cover the following topics.

• The climate crisis: global heating and its causes
• What we value, as cultures, organisations and individuals, and the tensions between them
• Connecting with nature and learning from nature to solve human problems
• Five ways of working: holistic, interrelated positive steps that can enable radical and rapid action
• Long-term thinking: how you can help your organisation take a longer-term view
• Prevention: deficit and asset-based approaches to the protection of nature
• Involvement: ways of involving a diversity of stakeholders meaningfully
• Collaboration: the factors for successful collaboration with examples from a range of organisations
• Integration: the integration of sustainability in your organisation
• Applying tools and frameworks to put your ideas into action

You will learn

By the end of this Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course, you’ll be able to:

• explain the scientific facts of the climate and ecological crises
• re-examine your thoughts and feelings on the urgent need for action on sustainability
• distinguish how you and your organisation uniquely contribute to sustainability agendas, including just transition, industrial decarbonisation, the green skills agenda, and the Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy (LCREE)
• involve a range of stakeholders to identify potential quick wins for transformative change
• demonstrate your own collaborative leadership skills by engaging and influencing others to effect change
• critique the impact of past and present actions for sustainability to inform future action
• design a sustainability action plan appropriate for your organisation which will effect long-term change.

Skills you will gain

• Explaining the scientific facts of the climate crisis
• Understanding organisational contributions to sustainability agendas
• Designing a sustainability action plan
• Critical thinking and leadership
• Reflective learning
• Collaborative working
• Organisational innovation
• Big picture thinking
• Inclusive communication

Vocational relevance

The course offers an optimistic reflective experience, empowering learners to influence others and identify quick wins to become catalysts for change. You’ll learn how to be inspired by nature, remain optimistic and share ‘facts with feeling’ to deliver impactful change and add sustainability know-how to your skill set to advance your career in sustainability.

Created by leading experts and practitioners from ¿ìèÊÓƵ

• Dr Victoria Hands, Director of Sustainability at the OU, has designed this microcredential. She is an experienced sustainability practitioner with a PhD in implementing sustainable development.
• Dr Emma Dewberry is a Senior Lecturer in Design Ecologies at the OU’s School of Engineering and Innovation. Emma’s teaching focuses on Design for Sustainability.
• Claudia Eckert is Professor of Design at the OU’s School of Engineering and Innovation. Her research looks at how to improve complex products and how small changes over time can make products more sustainable across their life cycle.
• Anne Callan is an economic and social science researcher with experience working in international sustainable development and bringing theory, policy and real-world practice together.

Teaching and assessment

Study support

• Learn 100% online on the OU’s learning platform with a mix of video, audio and written materials
• Engage in interactive learning through self-assessment questions, polls, tasks and reflection
• Share ideas and experiences in discussion with other learners, building skills, confidence and knowledge
• Receive support from mentors who guide discussions and answer questions
• Study at a time that suits you with the flexibility to access the course from your desktop, tablet or mobile device

Assessment

You’ll take part in weekly tasks and discussions with co-learners to support and consolidate your learning. You will also practice reflective learning through weekly journaling, focusing on the challenges you face. This process will empower you to take meaningful actions for sustainability and position you as a catalyst for change. Towards the end of the course, you’ll submit a project or assessment demonstrating the skills you’ve acquired. This will be marked and graded by subject matter experts and make up 100% of your final mark.

What you will gain

10 UK credits at undergraduate level from ¿ìèÊÓƵ*. Academic credits are awarded on passing the final assessment. These will be at undergraduate level 6 of the Framework for Higher Education (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) / level 10 of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.

*Academic credit may be used towards selected OU qualifications. For more details, including eligible qualifications, visit Counting microcredentials towards OU qualifications. The credit awarded may also be used at another university, subject to the agreement of the receiving institution.

Regulations