Tackling Inequalities news

The Open University has launched a new practical toolkit aimed at helping policymakers, campaigners, and researchers engage some of the UK’s most politically disengaged communities.

As we approach 2030, the clock is ticking on the world’s promise to deliver Sustainable Development Goal 4: inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all. Yet for many educators and policymakers, global education still feels like an abstract or secondary concern - something for others, somewhere else.

This question was at the heart of the Global Ministerial Dialogue on Science Diplomacy, held on 13 March 2025 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

Giving marginalised young people access to a youth-led, innovative and flexible education programme delivered by frontline youth workers in their local areas can change lives and lay the groundwork for long-term, peaceful change.

The Open University has awarded funding from its Open Societal Challenges programme for a new project, titled ‘Sustaining Bournemouth: The Changing Face of Our Foodbank During Financial Crisis’.

Dr Alexandra Okada’s research for CARE-KNOW-DO has been recognised as one of the top 10 publications in the field, earning a finalist spot for the prestigious “Research Worth Reading” award by the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST).

A groundbreaking initiative, led by the Welsh Refugee Council in collaboration with Open University’s Professor Marie Gillespie, has secured £25,000 in funding to break down barriers for refugee women in Wales.

CONNECT 2030, an international project led by Dr Alexandra Okada from The Open University, earned UNESCO recognition as a top three global initiative in digital education transformation at the 2024 Global Education Meeting in Fortaleza.

CHIVA Africa, a leading charity focused on supporting children and adolescents living with HIV, has been awarded an Open Societal Challenges funding grant to advance its project in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa to address barriers to antiretroviral therapy.

Dr Keely Duddin, a celebrated researcher at The Open University and winner of the Research Excellence Award for Outstanding Early Career Researcher, is at the forefront of addressing pressing issues within UK policing.