The Open University has launched a social media campaign in partnership with UK Parliament Week to highlight “changemakers” past, present or predicted in society.
The OU’s student-focused POLIS Open Politics team and UK Parliament Week have partnered to launch the Changemakers project from 12 October until 30 November.
The aim is to think about people who have made a change in our society, and what impact they have had on communities, honing in on the characteristics needed to make an impact.
“Someone who has inspired politically, democratically or socially”
People can support the campaign by posting the name and image of their “changemaker” and saying why they fit the bill, using the campaign hashtags #MadeChange, #MakingChange or #WillMakeChange.
The suggested changemaker – who should be UK based – can be historical or current, or even someone who is likely to carry out social change in the future.
OU students can also post their “changemaker” to a dedicated forum.
Dr Donna Smith politics lecturer and tutor, who is leading the campaign said:
“We want to hear about all kinds of “changemakers”. They don’t just need to be politicians, they could be community campaigners, writers, artists, academics etc. Someone who has inspired you politically, democratically, or socially perhaps? Who do you think has made a change to how things are, or who will hopefully make a change in the future?”
“We look forward to seeing who people nominate, whether there are any shared characteristics or approaches to change, with the aim of identifying the characteristics needed to make an impact so people can make a difference.”
The campaign runs until the end of November. To see the nominations already being posted Twitter users can search the #OUatUKPW hashtag.
Full details of Changemakers is at the Open Politics site https://learn2.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=206901&cmid=1611597, and on the UK Parliament Week’s site https://www.ukparliamentweek.org/en/stories/the-open-university/
