About

Welcome to the Open University’s School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences (EEES). We are an inclusive, diverse and friendly community of Open University staff and students that is fascinated by the natural world around us.

Our vision is to investigate past and present environments, creating positive actions in response to the climate emergency.

Our mission is to use our world-leading teaching, research and knowledge to address issues of social and environmental justice. Our aim is to empower scientific citizens, better equipping them to engage with local to global environmental issues.

We offer undergraduate modules and qualifications in Environmental Sciences, Earth Sciences, and Geography and Environmental Science.

We also offer exciting opportunities to communicate and engage with us, through citizen science initiatives, free courses on OpenLearn, and co-productions with the BBC.

We are keen to work with you, e.g. through consultancy work and access to our laboratory facilities, as a means of building partnerships and exchanging knowledge to create positive actions for a sustainable future.

We are proud of the distinctive values and capabilities that underpin our vision, embracing inclusivity, driving innovation, and generating impact.

We are inclusive

• We transform people’s lives for the better, ensuring EEES education is openly accessible to students from diverse backgrounds, contributing to social mobility.
• We enable under-represented communities and places to engage with us and our science through open educational resources, multi-platform broadcasting, citizen science, and other forms of engagement and enterprise.
• We support rigorous, responsible and responsive research and innovation to involve a more diverse range of people and partners in the development process, building on concepts such as open innovation.

We are innovative:

• We are recognised as leaders in using digital technologies to enhance the student experience, bringing high-quality education to students learning in a wide variety of situations.
• In EEES technology-supported learning covers: structured, integrated and collaborative online learning, practical experimentation, field work and use of instruments to investigate the Earth system as a whole, and specific geological and ecological components.
• Our high-quality teaching, curriculum and innovation are informed by world-leading research, strong links with professional bodies and communities of practitioners, as well as by research and scholarship focused on providing leadership in our fields and on continuously improving EEES pedagogy.

We deliver significant social and economic impact:

• We provide EEES higher education at scale, with international reach and further growth potential.
• We transfer EEES skills and knowledge to produce capable and skilled citizens to support informed decision making about Earth and environmental science issues in wider society and the workplace.
• The employability value of our courses is underpinned in most cases by accreditation from leading Professional Bodies and Learned Societies, as well as partnerships and sponsorship with leading employers.
• Our high-quality teaching and research address real-world issues, delivering impact for society and the economy, including addressing STEM skills shortages across the UK.