Goal 17: Policies, processes and practices

The following page outlines specific policies, processes and practices in support of Sustainable Development Goal 17 Partnership for the goals.

Relationships with regional NGOs and government for SDG policy

We are directly involved with regional government, NGOs, and national government policy development. The University is part of Greater Manchester’s independent Climate Change Partnership, where we collaborate with regional government and NGOs to inform zero-carbon strategies, addressing SDG 13 – Climate Action.

Through our #BeeWell programme, we are working with Greater Manchester Combined Authority to inform regional and national policies on mental health and welleing of young people in schools. This research will create a rich longitudinal evidence base that leads to a better understanding of the factors influencing young people’s well-being, including the impact of arts, cultural, and physical activities. The programme addresses SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-Being, and SDG 4 – Quality Education.

Research at the University is transforming how international policy organisations understand and manage environmental challenges, shifting the focus to the dynamics and drivers of sustainability transitions in energy, food, and mobility systems. This work advances goal 13 – take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Cross sectoral dialogues about SDGs

We participate in a wide range of cross-sector dialogues about the SDGs with government and NGOs. We have presented at the Global Sustainable Development Congress which engages universities with a wide range of government and non-governmental actors in dialogue about the SDGs. We collaborated at a major European event ‘Social responsibility and the SDGs: Innovation for a Sustainable Future‘ with to foster cross-sector dialogue on the SDGs. We also took part in a the launch of a new Green Skills Accelerator initiative to advance collaboration across sectros on skills needed to meet the SDGs among young people.

Collaboration for SDG best practice

We lead and participate in international collaborations on gathering or measuring data for the SDGs. We presented to universities around the world on how we report against the 17 SDGs via the global Sustainable Development Solutions Network.  Led by the University of Manchester, the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) produces high-quality and research and data on SDGs 8, 11 and 16 to understand which policies and programmes will improve the living standards of residents in 12 African cities (Bukavu, Dar Es Salaam, Freetown, Harare, Kampala, Lagos, Lilongwe, Maiduguri, Mogadishu and Nairobi). As part of our Sustainable Forest Transitions project, we have collaborated with governments and NGOs to gather data on SDG 13 and 15 across 51 low and middle countries using 643 case studies. This showed that communities themselves manage 28% of this land which is critical to carbon capture and biodiversity.

We are undertaking international collaborations and reviewing comparative approaches to develop international best practice on tackling the SDGs. Our African Cities Research Consortium is producing high-quality international collaboration to tackle SDGs 8, 11 and 16 alongside ICLEI, PASGR and SDI. We collaborated on SDG 7.1 (universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services) through a prolific programme of European-wide engagement. As a result, we shaped European-wide policy direction of the European Commission’s Vulnerable Consumer Working Group, the body responsible for developing EU energy policy. The research has framed national energy poverty policies, influencing the work of the UK’s largest fuel poverty charity, National Energy Action, the Spanish National Poverty Strategy, and the National Energy and Climate Plans of nine EU countries – Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Romania, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia and Malta.

The University also collaborates with NGOs on various student projects, research programmes, and educational resources. We oversee a range of student volunteering programmes linked to SDGs 1, 2, 3, and 4. For example, our partnership with the NGO Azizi Life and the University of Rwanda supports sustainable businesses and poverty alleviation for artisans, directly contributing to these SDGs.

Through research programmes, we collaborate with NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Save the Children to address SDGs 3, 4, and 16. Additionally, we have partnered with NGOs in developing our Global Health programmes. For example, in our MSc in Global Health, we worked with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and MSF on the course content.

Education for the SDGs

We offer dedicated courses that address sustainability and the SDGs. Students are assessed on their ability to learn and retain key sustainability concepts, measuring their sustainability literacy. We are kite-marking all undergraduate courses with the relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) they address. We deliver teaching, learning and the student experience by embedding the principles of education for sustainable development across the full curriculum, and through engaging all students in mandatory education around social, political and environmental issues presented in the SDGs. 

Our University College for Interdisciplinary Learning (UCIL) offers students from various disciplines a selection of courses they can study as part of their degree, many of which focus on sustainability.

For example, the ‘PGT Creating a Sustainable World: Interdisciplinary Applications of the Sustainable Development Goals’ module equips students with the knowledge and skills needed to address the SDGs. It introduces the concept of sustainable development and explains the partnership-based approach that underpins the SDGs. The module aims to analyze the diverse ways sustainable development is applied across different spaces and scales, including policy, everyday life, and infrastructures.

Students’ sustainability literacy is assessed through various tasks, including:

• An applied research project on sustainable development set by an external organization.
• A research proposal for the applied research project.
• Interdisciplinary discussions with fellow students about how to enhance their research project.

We have 11 different Master’s programmes focused on sustainable development and the environment. One example is our MA in Education for a Sustainable Environment, which is committed to reducing carbon emissions as part of a broader commitment to socio-environmental sustainability within the School of Environment, Education, and Development. We also deliver 12 undergraduate programmes related to sustainable development and the environment.

We also have dedicated outreach educational activities for the wider community, including alumni, local residents and displaced people/refugees. We engaged our alumni from all over the world in an award-winning Manchester Day of Action to address the SDGs. We worked with the NGO Common Purpose to engage young people beyond our University with SDG education. Common Purpose’s GM100 Legacy programme has allowed us to share some of our vast teaching and research expertise across the UN SDGs with an inspiring group of young people from across our city region who will go on to be the decisions makers and sustainability professionals of tomorrow. The University offers a series of open-access courses on public health and the SDGs, available to the wider community. These courses aim to address public health issues relevant to the SDGs and highlight the role of public health in achieving these goals.