On 19 November 2020, as part of ‘Manchester Day of Action’ (a global volunteer activism programme which inspires alumni to undertake social responsibility voluntary work) the University invited 22 alumni from across the Americas (split between north and south) to participate in an online workshop which discussed the fundamental basis of the United Nation’s (UN) charter.

Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2020, the UN launched a global consultation, inviting groups of people to gather online and discuss such things as ‘what is our vision for the international community in 2040 and how do we get there’.

Alumni volunteers from Colombia, Brazil and Chile joined fellow graduates from Mexico, the US and Canada and discussed these questions in small groups. Each group was facilitated by an academic expert with subject knowledge relevant to one of seven overarching themes; including Climate Change; A Race We Can Win; The Impact of Digital Technologies;‘A New Era of Conflict and Violence and Inequality – Bridging the Divide.

Summaries of the discussions were recorded and submitted to the UN75 project. UN75 Dialogues held globally have informed the a final report published this month (January 2021) on the UN’s website: https://www.un.org/en/un75/finalreport. This report will form the basis of the UN’s charter for the next 25 years – looking ahead to the organisation’s centenary in 2040.

The workshop was coordinated by Markus Karlsson-Jones in the Division of Development and Alumni Relations. He said: “Bringing alumni and academics experts together in an online workshop successfully piloted an entirely new way to involve graduates in the University’s social responsibility agenda. Partnering with academic experts added a huge amount of value to the project overall and especially to the experience of the alumni volunteers who took part – it really fired them up for more activity like this.”

Stephanie Sodero, Lecturer in Responses to Climate Change at the Univerity of Manchester was one of the facilitators, she said: “It was a great opportunity to speak with alumni from North and South America. It felt like the world came to my doorstep – and the doorstep of all participants – in such a positive and collaborative way. Compared to the worry of the pandemic, it was a breath of fresh air.”