OU Politics launches Changemakers guide for UK Parliament Week 2021

As part of this year’s UK Parliament Week, The Open University is working in collaboration with the UK Parliament and the Political Studies Association to launch a Changemakers guide – a step-by-step guide to making political and social change, from the initial stages of planning and research, to getting your MP on board, and other ways of having an impact, such as through social media.

The guide encourages people to engage with the UK Parliament in particular, as well as politics more generally, giving people the essential knowledge and tools needed to make change. Some of the changemakers nominated by OU students and the wider public are highlighted as an inspiration to making change, whether big or small.

In 2020, as a new partner of UK Parliament Week, Senior Lecturer in Politics Dr Donna Smith from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) led the ‘Changemakers’ social media campaign. The campaign, designed with students as partners as part of Open Politics, engaged OU students and the wider public in making a difference by learning about political engagement. The campaign asked people to think about individuals who made a change in society and the impact they've had (politically, democratically, socially), with people submitting their nominated changemaker on Twitter (search #OUatUKPW on twitter to see the submissions).

The Changemakers guide builds on this partnership for UK Parliament Week 2021, which is taking place from Monday 1 to Sunday 7 November. The guide is available to download from today (Tuesday 19 October), with the official launch taking place through two online events during UK Parliament Week, on Wednesday 3 November.

‘Making change through UK Parliament – roundtable with Catherine McKinnell MP, Chair of the UK Parliament Petitions Committee’ is an internal event for OU Politics and International Studies students, while ‘Being a Changemaker, making a difference: an event to launch the Changemakers guide from The Open University, for UK Parliament Week 2021’ is open to the public. To register for the public event, visit the Eventbrite page.

Find out more about Open Politics and download the Changemakers guide on the OU Politics website or read more about UK Parliament Week.