Research
Open University researchers and students are involved in a wide range of research and engagement projects related to the environment and ecosystems that underpin work in the OpenLiving Lab. Many of the research techniques we are applying here have been developed through wider OU-led research projects – including methods used to restore our urban woodlands and floodplain meadows, trialling new technologies for environmental monitoring, and participatory citizen science. We are embedding this research into our OpenLiving Lab activities to show how novel, engaged, interdisciplinary research can be applied in urban habitat restoration and monitoring.
Affiliated Research Projects
Floodplain Meadows Partnership
A UK-wide multi-partner project led by the Open University to conserve, research and restore floodplain meadows. These traditionally-managed ecosystems are incredibly biodiverse and are important for carbon and water storage.
Branching Out: New routes
to valuing urban treescapes
An interdisciplinary team including researchers from The Open University (Philip Wheeler, Janice Ansine, Joe Fennell, Holly Woo), University of York, Loughborough University and Forest Research worked with communities in urban areas to understand the diverse ways they value trees.
The project aimed to develop new ways of mapping, predicting, and communicating social and cultural values to support robust, evidence-based decision making and management.
The “monster map of urban trees”, Treezilla is a citizen science platform that has mapped over 1 million trees in the UK.
Users can record the location, size and condition of trees in their area, calculating the tree’s eco-benefits and record why it is of significant value to them.
TreeLab: A novel, engaged, urban forest research programme
Co-created engaged urban tree research to address national research priorities on urban trees and green infrastructure in a local context.
This collaborative project brought together a network of community groups, local authorities, researchers and practitioners to establish priorities and develop ideas for equitable, engaged, place-based research.
Postgraduate Research
Paul Griffiths
Green Roof Function and Ecosystem Service Delivery in a UK Context
Butterflies in The City: Landscape Connectivity and Conservation of Urban Woodland Butterflies
This PhD is the first to examine butterflies in urban woodlands, assessing habitat complexity and connectivity, documenting species present, and identifying the traits that enable some species to persist in urban areas using Milton Keynes as a model city.
Understanding the impacts of urbanisation on ancient woodland
How the ecology of ancient woodlands in cities like Milton Keynes is being affected by human impacts including pollution, visitor pressure and invasive species.
Engagement activities
How to turn urban spaces into wildlife havens
Dr Willow Neal
Northern Ireland Science Festival, Belfast
February 2026
BEYOND: Broadening the engagement of young people in environmental science
Steve McNay and Tash Darling (Woughton Community Council), and Prof Richard Holliman, Dr Yoseph Araya and Prof Shonil Bhagwat (Open University)
Published papers
Influence of canopy structural complexity on urban woodland butterfly species richness
Using botanical records to understand change in urban ancient woodlands
