Sustainable futures: an agenda for action
ICT is the critical component which will empower us to build a sustainable society, argues distinguished economist Professor Raphael Kaplinsky in his latest book Sustainable Futures: an Agenda for Action.

Professor of International Education and Development to co-chair key global education policy advisory body
Kwame Akyeampong, The Open University’s Professor of International Education and Development, has been appointed co-chair of the recently established Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel, hosted by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the World Bank. The panel will provide guidance on evidence-based and cost-effective practices for policymakers in low- and middle- income countries.

Study of how China and Pakistan negotiate ‘offers important lessons
Filippo Boni’s co-authored report for the Carnegie Institute for International Peace challenges some of the myths around the Belt and Road Initiative.

Large AHRC grant for digital storytelling for inclusion research
A project led by Alison Buckler with researchers in Nigeria, South Africa and the UK has won £610,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The project will use storytelling as a device to explore young people’s understanding of what it means to be included in education.

Finding strength in song
Catherine Pestano describes what her music work with LGBTQ+ refugee/asylum seeker groups has achieved, in this OpenLearn blog.

Open University academic authors BOND report on UK Aid Connect
The UK network for international development organisations has published a report by Andrea Berardi on how on aid consortia have coped with COVID, cuts and other recent catastrophes, and what we can learn from their experience. Read the report.

Take your training online course
This short course is for charities, NGOS and other third-sector organisations who have been forced to shift, or are planning to shift, from face-to-face to online training. It focuses on what is distinctive about online training, how to improve it, and, in particular, how to move beyond webinar and ‘online lecture’ towards the more interactive styles of training. It’s been developed by a team from The Open University for their free learning OpenLearn platform, with input from charities and NGOs in Europe, Asia and Africa, and funding by UK Aid from the UK government. Find out more and enroll.

Open University Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies post-doctoral research associates ( x2): Two full-time post-doctoral research associates are sought to work on the project English as Medium of Instruction in European Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities for Europe and the UK. The post involves traveling and working within Europe for limited periods of time. Deadline for applications 17 August. Further details available online.