Find out more about The Open University's Open degree courses
A free festival celebrating the invention of the weekend
Up until the 19th century, everyone in the UK worked a six day week. Then in 1843, in Greater Manchester, workers’ rights activists launched a campaign to finish early on Saturdays. They won, and in doing so, invented the weekend – a gift to workers the world over!We’re marking this enormous achievement with a new and imaginative free festival from Salford. The festival of free time MediaCity and Salford Quays, Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September, 2022. One massive, colourful, exciting weekend of music, theatre, sport, workshops, dancing, laughs, and more to celebrate the joy of free time.
Try something new
From water sports on the canal, community feasts and dance performances, to getting your hands dirty with planting workshops and finding gems at vintage markets, festival-goers will meet new people, try new things and make memories together.
This learning hub helps you explore some of the topics, ideas and themes presented at the festival, including food, sport, music, culture, work and travel. All courses are free and selected from nearly 1,000 free courses available to you on OpenLearn.
Festival partners
The festival is a partnership with the BBC, The Lowry, the University of Salford, the Royal Horticultural Society, Eat Well MCR, Unity Radio, Science and Industry Museum, The Open University Business School, HOST, Salford Community Leisure, Salford CVS, Sounds from the Other City and hundreds of community organisations from all regions of the city. HemmingwayDesign is the event delivery partner for the festival.
Learn more about food
-
Eating for the environment
This free course, Eating for the environment, will explore the links between food, nutrition and environmental sustainability.
-
The science of nutrition and healthy eating
This free course, The science of nutrition and healthy eating, looks at the science behind nutrition, covering aspects of biology, chemistry and physics as well as giving some insight into healthier eating. Reading food labels, choosing healthier foods, hydrating appropriately and understanding how we taste food will allow you to be more ...
-
Junk Food Marketing To Children Online
UK rules that ban marketing of junk foods to children and young people are weak. Why is this a problem?
Discover more about sport with a FREE course
-
New course: Supporting female performance in sport and fitness
This brand new free course explores issues relating to women participating in sport and fitness.
-
Communication and working relationships in sport and fitness
This free course, Communication and working relationships in sport and fitness, explores the personal skills that underpin so much work in sport and gyms. We often hear employers refer to the importance of these interpersonal relationships or ‘soft skills’ in sport and fitness, and in this unique course you’ll build valuable insights into ...
-
Exploring sport coaching and psychology
This free course, Exploring sport coaching and psychology, investigates how scientific and management ideas contribute to success while also taking you on a journey through unique sporting case studies and insights that will change how you view and study sport. You will consider how the mind, the body, the environment and training techniques all...
Want to discover more about the future of work?
-
Teaching citizenship: work and the economy
The issue of 'citizenship, work and the economy' is often neglected in everyday discussions of citizenship. But a moment's reflection should demonstrate how important it is. The vast majority of us will spend the bulk of our adult lives working in some context or another, and our engagement with economic activity more generally is obvious (and ...
-
Planning a better future
Planning a better future is an introductory course for anyone considering changing jobs, wondering how to move up the ladder or return to work after a break, and those who might be looking to aspire to better things.
-
Entrepreneurship – from ideas to reality
This free course, Entrepreneurship: from ideas to reality, is about starting and running your own business. Using case studies it will take you through the decisions from generating initial ideas through to deciding what you will do and how to establish your business and grow it. It will guide you through business models, funding options, ...
Interested in music and culture?
-
Imagination: The missing mystery of philosophy
What is imagination and can philosophy define it in any meaningful way? This free course, Imagination: The missing mystery of philosophy, will introduce you to some of the possible answers to these questions and will examine why philosophy has sometimes found it difficult to approach imagination. It will then go on to examine the relationship ...
-
Art and visual culture: medieval to modern
What is art? What is visual culture? How have they changed through history? This free course, Art and visual culture: medieval to modern, explores the fundamental issues raised by the study of western art and visual culture over the last millennium. It moves from discussing the role of the artist and the functions of art during the medieval and ...
-
Art, Loot and Empire: The Benin Bronzes
How did the West African artworks known as the Benin Bronzes end up in European museums? And why does it matter?
Find out more about sustainable travel
-
Transport and sustainability
This free course, Transport and sustainability, explores the issues around sustainable transport and how the role of technology and society can interact to lower the overall impact of transport.
-
Golden Globe Ocean Race: The next 50 years?
Dr David Assinder takes a look ahead at the next 50 years and explores the changes to our oceans.
-
Introducing environmental decision making
Many of the decisions we make have implications for our environment, particularly those concerning natural resources and waste. Taking account of environmental factors in decision making can be both complex and challenging. This free course, Introducing environmental decision making, considers decisions in their broader contexts and advocates a ...
Learn more about sustainable and ethical fashion
-
Exploring economics: the secret life of t-shirts
This free course, Exploring economics: the secret life of t-shirts, aims to describe what goes into making and selling t-shirts. Which resources, which markets, who is involved, the income people get, the income and value they create are all discussed. You will explore these questions at different stages of the production of a t-shirt, and ...
-
Too much of a good thing? Choice challenges in sustainable clothes shopping
With 460 eco-labels in 197 countries, how can we make sense of them all? Professor Marilyn Carrigan investigates the issue of the over-saturation and impact of eco-labels.
Find out about urban design and regeneration
-
Can renewable energy sources power the world?
We ask the question ‘Can renewable energy sources power the world?’ as a response to the growing awareness that increased use of renewable energy technologies is making a major contribution to global efforts to limit anthropogenic climate change. The course begins by examining the environmental concerns that have caused a rise in interest in ...
-
Changing cities
Urban processes are increasingly held to be responsible for causing a variety of problems environmental destruction, social injustice, global financial instability. They are also identified as harbouring the potential to meet these challenges through urban experiments in sustainable living, creative culture and alternative economies. This ...
-
The stories behind our streets
Where do you live? One answer may be your home postal address but what are the secrets behind your postcode? How has your street changed over the years?
Rate and Review
Rate this article
Review this article
Log into OpenLearn to leave reviews and join in the conversation.
Article reviews