Where to start if you want to save the world? The site, poster and programme give plenty of practical tips, and point to ways of making your voice heard. Environmental issues are some of the most complex facing us today, and it’s never been more important for people to get better informed. The Open University can help you to answer key questions such as:

• How do globalisation and environmental change relate?
• Why does biodiversity matter, and how can we make it count?
• When and where will climate change bite, and how should we respond?
• Can ecology and economy ever be brought together in the decisions we make?

The Open University offers one of the most complete ranges of environment courses anywhere in the world. Teams of experts in both distance learning and environment put together constantly updated materials combining interactive textbooks, audiovisuals, CD-ROM/DVDs and Web resources.

And all of them can be studied where and when you want. But you won’t be alone: you’ll have a tutor to support you in your progress, and a group of fellow students will be sharing the journey. You can take just one or two courses over a year, or study for full Ho

nours or Masters degrees in Environmental Studies. Open University environment courses are put to a whole range of uses. Your studies won't do any harm in pub quizzes but are also a proven route to advancing your career. They build the kinds of knowledge, skills and confidence that Planet Earth needs.

First Level Courses

• S180 Life in the Oceans: Exploring our Blue Planet (short course)
  Explore life in the oceans and how it is influenced by the shape of the ocean basins and the chemistry of seawater, as well as by the tides and currents. Discover the still mysterious realm of the deep ocean and look at modern fishing techniques and their far-reaching consequences for marine life.
• T172 Working with our Environment: Technology for a Sustainable Future
  Look at your own effects on the environment, global environment issues and the role of technology in creating a sustainable future. This course provides an ideal introduction to a degree in environmental studies, to many higher-level technology courses, and to some courses in science, social science and business studies.

Second Level Courses

• S216 Environmental Science
  This course combines biology, chemistry, Earth science and physics, encompassing the processes, links, interactions and feedback mechanisms that operate within different environments. There’s a multimedia interactive field trip exploring an area visually. 'Lead' a group of students through a new virtual environment, make critical analyses of landform, soils and water flows, identify habitats of flora and fauna and comment on anthropogenic influences and their likely consequences.
• T210 Environmental Control and Public Health
  Understand our natural resources, related environmental problems and environmental legislation. Three preparatory sections cover relevant basic mathematics, chemistry and biology. Discuss the monitoring, health and environmental effects, methods of control of different kinds of pollution - air, water, noise and domestic and hazardous wastes. The environmental aspects of food processing and distribution are also covered concluding with a consideration of environmental impact analysis.
• U216 Environment
  Environmental concerns include global climate change, anxieties about food, polluted air, waste disposal, the squandering of natural resources, disappearance of species and habitats, the consequences of our actions for future generations and disquiet over genetic modification of living organisms. Gain an introduction to the scientific, technological and social factors that are important in informing your approaches to these concerns.
• U213 International Development: challenges for a World in Transition
  International development in its many manifestations presents the world with some of its most pressing challenges. The course introduces the main issues associated with meeting those challenges and, in so doing, looks critically at ideas about inequality at local and global levels and the relationship between the levels.

Third Level Courses

• U316 The Environmental Web
  Examine contemporary issues such as biodiversity and climate change in order to develop your environmental literacy and enable you to take part in informed debate and action. Explore environmental materials on the World Wide Web, used by individuals, business, government, NGOs and international organisations to publish data, implement policy, debate issues and promulgate views.
• S328 Ecology
  Ecology, the study of living organisms, their relationships with one another and with their environment, gives a scientific insight into how natural communities of animals and plants ‘work' and has many applications in a scientific approach to conservation and agriculture. Study ecosystems, factors that affect distribution and interactions of organisms, population ecology, human beings and ecology.

Masters Level

• D831 Environmental Valuation and Policy
  Study the economic aspects of environmental issues. Examine the contentious role of cost-benefit analysis in decision-making and methods used to value costs and benefits of environmental changes. Case studies show the practical significance of economic analysis in, for example, the National Air Quality Strategy, the work of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and the Environment Agency.
• T862 Enterprise and the Environment
  This course includes concepts such as environmental management systems, life-cycle assessment and corporate disclosure (environmental reporting). It aims to set the context in which materials and energy conservation affect individual, corporate and national activities. It introduces a systemic approach to the study of business operations and methods for quantifying and optimising materials and energy use, tools that will reduce environmental and financial risk.
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