World Environment Day is celebrated on the 5th June each year. Around the world, events and stories are used to highlight the environmental threats and challenges communities face and to celebrate the ways in which they are adapting successfully.
But the environment celebrated last year is not the same as the environment of today. Due to a range of human activities such as fossil fuel use, urbanisation, and agriculture we are rapidly changing the environment we depend on for the basics of life. As our environment alters, we experience the consequences in many forms, including climate change with increased risks of floods, droughts and storms. Our environment is now, in turn, changing us.
World Environment Day is celebrated once a year. But we need to be thinking and acting as if World Environment Day is every day.
In this short video, Dr Kevin Collins highlights how developing a more sustainable human-environment relationship depends on our capacity for learning. It is a fundamental part of adaptation and managing our environment.
The Open University has been teaching and researching about the environment for over 50 years from many different disciplines and perspectives. We have helped thousands of students from many different backgrounds gain new knowledge, skills and insights into the science, policies and practices that shape our world today and are needed for a more sustainable tomorrow.
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