The OU Students Association and The Open University has been awarded Responsible Futures accreditation for the first time.
Responsible Futures is a programme organised by Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK), which awards institutions for their efforts to embed sustainability across all aspects of student learning. The award of a Responsible Futures certification indicates that an institution has an environment which enables sustainability to thrive, rather than an end point.
Our result
The Association and the OU were audited by students who volunteered two days of their time. Following their analysis of our collected evidence, the Association and the OU were successfully awarded Responsible Futures accreditation with a score of 233 out of a possible 355.
Our high scores
The Association scored highly in many areas, including:
- Our high level champions committing their time to sustainability initiatives as well as future-proofing this work with the creation of a new role of Sustainability Representative on the Student Leadership Team.
- The number of staff available to support our work in these areas, including ongoing input from our Digital Communications team.
- Effective engagement from our working group, students, trustees and the Association's Chief Executive in matters relating to Responsible Futures.
- Sustainability is included in the induction of new staff, working group volunteers and students attending Welcome Week events.
An auditor of the Association's work said:
"The Partnership has clearly made great strides towards attaining the Responsible Futures accreditation – it was amazing to see just how much evidence was shared with auditors, and the work being done is just so interesting. I feel proud to be a student at the OU!"
Suggested improvements
Our auditors and SOS-UK provided valuable advice on where we can make a real improvement in our sustainability practices:
- We scored well on collaboration with OU departments, particularly the Sustainability team, and were recommended to increase collaboration on communicating sustainability information, events and opportunities on OU and Association channels.
- Although commended for our focus on environmental sustainability, we have been recommended to have a more holistic approach (including social and economic considerations) in our policy and in collecting student views.
- Working to bring students and staff together to promote a collaborative approach to progressing issues relating to Responsible Futures.
Looking forward
We want to thank students and staff for their invaluable inputs into our Responsible Futures Accreditation. Students and staff in the Environment and Sustainability Working Group organised and ran events, while across the Association, staff are committed to our sustainability goals within our Strategy.
Our Sustainability Representative, Jethro Tieman, is excited to continue the Association’s work in this field, and to score even higher in 2026.
Read a summary of our Responsible Futures accreditation