Prf Richard Holliman

This project brings together an inclusive leadership team that includes leading researchers in urban forestry, citizen science and engaged research to co-create a proposal for the development and implementation of TreeLab: a framework and delivery programme for an engaged, and collaborative world-class urban tree research project that will co-produce an evidence base for urban tree management. We will co-create the TreeLab concept through TreeLab:MK, using the city of Milton Keynes and engaging its communities of tree managers, publics and researchers in the development of a place-based nationally and internationally relevant research programme for phase 2 of this call.

We will work with a grassroots ethnic minority walking organisation to co-design walking routes that showcase aspects of the geological, landscape and ecological evolution of their local area that specifically link to OU research. This will: • Improve visibility of EES (and EES careers) within diverse communities who are under-represented in EES research • Engage these communities in cutting-edge EES from the Open University • Encourage confidence in walk leaders to communicate the science of the environment to their walk participants. • Train Earth/environmental scientists in mixed-methods approaches to public engagement evaluation

Astrobiology is an emerging scientific field and is driven by the question ‘are we alone in the Universe?’ With an increasing number of life-detection/habitability missions, astrobiology is at the core of nations’ space strategies. The Open University Astrobiology Unit focuses on understanding how, and where, life might be found, by combining field work, laboratory simulations and mission data. Building on this expertise, Unit members are involved in key astrobiology-related missions and in developing planetary protection regulations. E3 funding will build capacity in line with future missions by furthering our understanding of extraterrestrial environments and potential life, through developing facilities to simulate these environments and investigating analogue sites. This is aimed at understanding if, and where, life may be found beyond the Earth. The Unit will develop its expertise to meet the new challenges that arise as the private sector and smaller nations develop exploration capacity. This includes supporting the sector to meet, and define, planetary protection requirements and to address space governance, for example, ensuring environmental sustainability of missions. The Unit will develop relevant education material for the expanding space sector, and it will work to ensure knowledge and expertise in astrobiology is used in a just and equitable manner. Sustainability of the Unit will be underpinned by commercial services, external funding, and University investment. The Unit will support the growth of astrobiology networks of industry, higher educational institutes and policymakers, and early career researchers, to ensure that the UK is globally recognised and influential within the field.

For many people working in the environmental sciences today, the first spark of interest in the field came from experiences in nature. Whether walking, hiking or visiting the coast, immersion in the natural world can often plant the seeds of curiosity that lead to a lifelong desire to know more about how and why it works. In the UK, much of the natural “the countryside” is perceived as an overwhelmingly “white” space, hostile to people from non-white backgrounds. Not only does this mean that for many that seed is never planted, but the lack of familiarity with experiences in “the outdoors” means the fieldwork seen as necessary for an environmental education (and commonly required for accredited degree programs) presents a barrier to degree level study. This is a major problem for the field, as environmental impacts such as those driven by climate change affect everyone. Financial, cultural and opportunity barrier to accessing the outdoors, are recognised by both environmental organisations and grassroots groups. This project will bring together environmental scientists and grassroot community groups to tackle barriers in order to make outdoor learning accessible to all. We will test approaches to bring environmental science learning directly to those trying to make the UK countryside a more inclusive environment and learn from the experiences of both environmental scientists and activist groups in spending time immersed in nature.

Funding for this Schools-University initiative will complement the work of the RCUK-funded Catalyst, by providing specific funding for direct engagement activities between active OU researchers and young people. Success in gaining funding will further develop and strengthen the Open University's existing commitment to embedding public engagement within our research culture, enhancing the value and recognition for, and support of, public engagement with research. Working in partnership with the Denbigh Teaching School Alliance, the funding will be used to produce a flexible and adaptable framework for researcher-student activities and interactions that meet the needs of the students, teachers and the local schools. Futhermore, this project will provide opportunities for researchers to gain support in relevant transferable skills, and to reflect on these interactions through the findings from systematic evaluation research. This project will also provide further opportunties to recognise and reward excellence in this area. Overall, funding for this project will create structured, strategic, sustainable and equitable mechanisms for direct engagement between Open University researchers, young people and teachers within the Milton Keynes area, enhancing and enriching formal and informal learning contexts in the widest possible range of academic subjects offered by the participating schools, and through extra-curricula activities.

The aim of this proposal is to embed public engagement with research within The Open University’s (OU) strategic planning for research and the operational practices of researchers at all levels; to become an open research university.

This award allows Prof Rick Holliman and Dr Clare Warren to offer three week-long hands-on training workshops in 2017 for postgraduate researchers in the environmental sciences. The workshops will teach researchers how to identify and engage with end-users and research stakeholders.

This is a follow-up to the Media training Rick Holliman and I delivered to CENTA and other DTP students in early 2015. We plan to deliver a hands-on training programme for postgraduate researchers in the environmental sciences with a view to informing researchers’ long-term practices in engaging with end-users and research stakeholders. The workshops will address two key themes: engagement with, and communication to, end-users.

In March 2015, RCUK extended the funding to projects participating in the School-University Partnerships Initiative by one year. The purpose of the 12-month extension (Jan-Dec 2016) is to enable our partnership with the Denbigh Teaching School Alliance to develop a particular emphasis on embedding and sustainability in the final phase of the Initiative.

Working through the NERC-funded CENTA Doctoral Training Partnership this project is supporting postgraduate researchers, supervisors, and early-career researchers as they develop productive partnerships with the end-users of their environmental research, and to communicate the economic and social significance of their work.