About the course
The Walker Institute has partnered with the University’s Online Courses team to develop a new FutureLearn course due to launch on 13 September. The course has been designed for an 16-18 audience, however it is open to anyone from around the world who wants to learn more about the impact of climate change.
This is a course designed by young people for young people and has been both developed and presented by undergraduate students: Emily Woodall (German Studies) and Nick Mitchell (Climate and Meteorology) in collaboration with Dr Luisa Ciampi from the Walker Institute. Course Participants (‘Learners’) will follow Emily and Nick as they interview UoR researchers to find out how climate change impacts our health, the food we eat, biodiversity and the towns and cities we live in.
Many of the topics have been drawn from concerns highlighted in the Mock COP declaration – and the course features an interview from one of the organisers, youth activist Kevin Mtai from Earth Uprising.
The course also explains the key mitigation and adaptation strategies and international agreements in place, the role of governments, the power of the individual and what learners can do about the climate crisis.
Learners should finish the course feeling more confident to talk about the impact of climate change and feel empowered to take action.
The content highlights the interdisciplinary nature of climate change and includes contributions from across the University including Departments of Meteorology, Agriculture, Geography, Applied Economics & Marketing, Philosophy, Sustainable Land Management, Construction Management & Engineering, Sustainability and the Walker Institute.
About the course: the learning experience and platform
FutureLearn is a digital social learning platform where participants can share their experiences, discuss ideas, and provide guidance to each other throughout their learning journey. We hope the course will create a supportive global community in which participants can learn from one another along with the course experts.
Participants can learn in their own time, at their own pace, on any device with an internet connection. The course is 2 weeks, 2 hours study per week.
Learners will have four weeks to complete the course content for free. They will also have the option to purchase a ‘FutureLearn upgrade’ which gives ongoing access to the content and a FutureLearn certificate once they complete 90% of the content.
About the role of the Walker Institute
As the capacity building arm of the Walker Institute, the Walker Academy delivers a variety of courses to students, practitioners, and policy makers both throughout the UK and internationally. Our courses aim to develop ‘climate to policy and impact’ literacy through a systems thinking approach. Our strengths lie in our drive to train trainers to embed capacity into existing institutional structures for lasting impact, our connections throughout the globe, and our first-hand experience in designing and delivering climate change adaptation programmes. All the courses we design and deliver draw on these strengths, and we have delivered multiple bespoke courses to learners all around the world.
About the Online Courses team at the University of Reading
Our award-winning courses have reached more than 1.3 million people from over 190 countries since October 2013. Sharing our expertise in online learning design and insight gained from producing more than 30 public facing courses, the Online Courses team works collaboratively with academic experts and students throughout the University, as well as prestigious external partners such as the British Council, EIT Food and the Royal Meteorological Society. Designed to reach new audiences, our courses provide a window into the wealth of subjects on offer at Reading, whilst retaining the high quality expected of a world-class university.