On 1 August The University of Manchester welcomed Professor Duncan Ivison as our new President and Vice-Chancellor. Duncan has spent much of his time over the past few weeks getting out and about and meeting staff, students and members of our local communities.  

Earlier this month Duncan spent an afternoon in Ardwick, one of the University’s most local communities. The University sees Ardwick as both a key partner and valued neighbour with many common values for creating a greener, fairer, healthier society. 

During his visit Duncan met with a number of local residents and stakeholders, all with a common interest in the Ardwick area. His aim was to find out more about Ardwick, listen to what local residents want for their community and see examples of where the University and the community have worked together to address local issues.  

Accompanying Duncan on his visit were: Dr Julian Skyrme, Executive Director of Social Responsibility and Civic Engagement at the University; Councillor Amna Abdullatif, elected by residents to represent Ardwick, Choel Cartwight, co-founder of Ardwick Climate Action and Dr Carl Emery, Senior Lecturer at the Manchester Institute of Education and co-founder and Director of the Ardwick Education Partnership (a Community Interest Company and a not-for-profit collaborative platform between the University and the people of Ardwick).  

Duncan’s first stop was the S4B offices, where he met with Ross Hemming, Neighbourhood Manager at S4B Brunswick. Here he learned about the creation of S4B by Manchester City Council, who have used a combination of government funding, private investment and expertise to regenerate the Brunswick district of Ardwick. S4B’s work includes social housing provision, refurbishment, new homes for sale and to rent, and developments to neighbourhood design. 

Duncan then heard from Choel Cartwright, who in addition to founding Ardwick Climate Action is a longstanding local resident of Ardwick. Choel is also a Director of the Ardwick Education Partnership and leads on a range of neighbourly sustainability, greening and biodiversity projects across Brunswick. Duncan walked the Ardwick Climate Action Green Route – developed in partnership with researchers from our Lydia Becker Institute – and learned about ways our University’s research has helped reduce exposure to air pollution.

Rounding off the afternoon, Duncan visited The Works employment centre. The Works is part of Greater Manchester’s ‘Growth Company’, an award-winning, accredited social enterprise with a mission to enable growth, create jobs and improve lives. Duncan spoke with Tracey Roberts, Centre Manager for The Works. Tracey outlined how, in partnership with the Growth Company, the University invested in and supported the creation of The Works, an access to work programme based in Ardwick. The Works provides hundreds of people with access to advice, work-related training and job opportunities, both at the University and with a host of other partner employers.  

Duncan said: “One of the reasons I’ve come to Manchester is because I think it already embraces a powerful set of ideas that I am excited for us to build on: a deep, place-based commitment to the well-being of communities we serve; an aspiration for excellence in teaching and research; and a distinctive sense of social responsibility in all that we do. Many universities talk about these ideals: few combine their commitment to them in the way Manchester does.” 

He went on to say: “I think that great universities of the next century are ones that harness their teaching and research for the benefits of the communities they serve. We learn so much when we work with our local communities. We get better questions, we get better things to do and we work with more interesting partners. It’s all about how we work together with others and share our knowledge, share our research and share our resources with them. It’s all about responsibility.”  

We are sure that this is one of many visits that Duncan will make to our local communities of the coming months and years.  

• Watch Duncan’s short film to hear more.