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OpenTalks

Listen and learn at a pop-up OpenTALK!

When is it? 18th October: 11am to 3pm
Where is it? Mulberry Lawn  

What can I look forward to?
Throughout our 50th Anniversary year, the OpenTALKS series has gone on the road, popping up across our four nations to celebrate the wealth of talent and creativity we have here at the OU.

During OpenFest, there will be an exclusive OpenTALKS festival tent on the Mulberry Lawn, which will play host to a number of exciting pop-up talks throughout the day.

You’ll be able to come along, grab a seat, and listen to talks from a wide range of inspirational speakers from our OU family. We’ll release the full programme in the next week with timings so you can plan your day. Just remember that it’s first come, first served – so you might need to arrive earlier for your favourite speaker!  

Schedule (please note timings and topics are subject to change):

Time Topic Speaker Details
11am - 11.45am Prison education at the OU Degrees of Freedom group The OU has a long history of supporting people who wish to study for a degree while serving prison sentences. Thousands of students have begun learning. In this special OpenTALK, we will be joined by contributors from the upcoming book ‘Degrees of Freedom’ – an insightful look into the OU’s role in providing higher education to those in prison. You will hear from two ex-prisoners whose chapters in the book tell of how their lives have been transformed by their OU education. You will also learn more about the OU’s continuing role in prison education, see a short OU film about this work and have the chance to ask questions to some of the contributors and editors of the book.
12pm- 12.15pm Tackling the climate and biodiversity crises with urban trees and citizen science Philip Wheeler

Urban trees shape the character of our towns and cities and are critical to the response of urbanised societies to the environmental challenges we face. Topics covered will include how we are working with local authorities, private organisations and citizen scientists to better understand the value of urban trees in the UK.
12.25pm - 12.40pm History of the NHS Claire Chatterton

Details TBC
12.50pm - 1.05pm Her experience of education and the OU Zahra Alidini  
1.15pm - 1.30pm 1969 and all that - planetary science at the OU Monica Grady  
1.40pm - 1.55pm Time to Think John D'Arcy and Gabi Kent A brief overview of The Open University’s teaching in British and Irish prisons during the years of conflict 1972 and 2000; the development of a Digital Archive; and plans for conflict transformation education and development.
2.05pm - 2.20pm

The Politics of Mental Health 

 Sharon Mallon

A brief exploration of how the social and political climate we live in can affect our mental health and wellbeing
2.30pm - 2.45pm Education as sustainability Emma Dewberry During this Sustainability Week at the OU, we reflect on the opportunities to deliver learning that promotes environmental awareness and understanding. Recently, Blue Planet (a BBC-OU co-production), highlighted the scale of ocean plastic waste which led to  perhaps quite a surprising societal reawakening of our reliance on plastics: its different uses and lifespans, the quantity of waste produced, and its environmental impact. This talk suggests that the OU’s mission should include ecological wellbeing and promote ways to rethink education as sustainability.
2.55pm - 3.10pm Blockchains and the future of identity, personal data and truth John Domingue This talk will cover what blockchains are and some of their transformational potential. For example, with blockchains one can construct decentralised organisations which can trade and run with no humans in the loop. Blockchains can also be used as a foundation for ‘self-sovereignty’ online – where users wholly own and control their digital identity. If time allows you will also hear about some of the work we are doing in the education space with this technology.  More on our work can be seen at: https://blockchain.open.ac.uk/

Download the map to help you plan the day!

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