The Open University is co-hosting a unique event at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), one of several initiatives to mark its commitment to responding to the climate crisis.
The event will be held on Sunday 7 November at 1 pm, at the Glasgow Science Centre and you can join the livestream, watching and participating live via this YouTube link. COP26 began in Glasgow on Sunday 31 October and will continue until Friday 12 November.
In this COP26 Green Zone event, Ancient Knowledge and Modern Thinking: Climate Perspectives in Folk Art, Indigenous artists will present the meaning behind their art in a series of short films, bringing to life environmental, cultural and creative practices in India, Ecuador and the Arctic. OU speakers including Mark Brandon, along with iSpotnature.org’s Janice Ansine and Advaith Siddharthan, will explore connections between culture, citizens and climate while examining pieces by these artists from Glasgow Museums’ World Cultures collection.
How can art and science come together to inform the future of climate action? How can we utilise learnings from Indigenous communities to inspire nature-based solutions? These are some of the issues that will be explored in this thought-provoking session that intersects the worlds of culture, science and technology, sharing technological innovations that citizens can use to record and protect nature. Read the event description here.
The OU has official observer status at COP26 and will learn from the conference to inform the university’s wider sustainability mission and inspire students and staff to take action. The OU has committed to being ‘net zero’ by 2050 aiming to achieve net zero for what are known as scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, investing millions of pounds to achieve this. The University has also committed to divestment from fossil fuels, on which work has started, and will complete by 2023.
As part of its contribution to raise awareness and promote learning, the OU also has a wide range of free online resources exploring climate change and the importance of COP26, on the free learning site OpenLearn.
COP26 brings together parties from across the world to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Check out the range of events available from the Green Zone.