Social responsibility conference: Thriving through change
With a shared commitment to making a positive difference, the University’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH) came together for its inaugural Social Responsibility Conference, themed ‘Thriving Through Change.’ The event united staff, students, postgraduate researchers and community partners to celebrate the power of social responsibility in action, and to explore how we can grow, adapt and lead through times of change.
Professor Erinma Bell MBE, our keynote speaker, has been recognised for her peace activism and work addressing gun crime through prestigious awards such as Pride of Britain, MBE and Honorary Professor at the University of Salford.
Founding the organisation Community Alliance for Renewal Inner South Manchester Area (CARISMA), Professor Bell is a transformative leader, pioneering grassroots action within her local community and challenging institutional barriers to drive social change.
Professor Bell shared impactful insights into the importance of bridging social capital to build understanding and innovation between communities. She highlighted the importance of its role in transforming representation into agency to enable social change and communities to thrive.
Participants took part in a programme of interactive workshops that encouraged collaboration and active engagement with social responsibility across a range of topics.
This included AI and sustainability; considering AI usage across the University and what steps we can take to minimise the environmental harms of this technology. The benefits of openness in the use of animals for medical research and its role in increasing public trust. The importance of fostering authentic community engagement and public involvement in research and teaching practice. Lastly, an inclusive creative writing workshop designed to explore the concept of belonging through an EDI lens.
We were also joined four speakers who shared their experiences with putting social responsibility into action and ‘Thriving Through Change’ in an engaging Pecha Kucha session.
Our inspiring speakers included:
- Farrah Adegunle, an award-winning third-year medical student and Chair of the African-Caribbean Medical Society, who shared her journey into student leadership and her work tackling health inequalities through advocacy and community engagement.
- Dr Emmanuel Oladipo, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Education and spoken word poet, reflected on his career and the importance of widening participation in medicine.
- Dr Sayema Rahman Khan, Project Manager for the Global Majority Researcher Development Programme and Founder of South Asian Women in Higher Education (SAWHE) Network, spoke powerfully about resilience, adaptability, and leading change.
- Professor Kathryn Else, Professor of Immunology, shared how a chance encounter during fieldwork led to the creation of Entangled Stories, an art project exploring the role of creativity in science communication.
Overall, our theme ‘Thriving Through Change’ underscored the importance of adaptability and resilience in overcoming challenges and driving positive social change. The conference reinforced that social responsibility requires awareness, collaboration and action and each of us has an important role to play in creating a more inclusive and sustainable society.