Talking Science Competition

Each year, the University’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH) hosts the ‘Talking Science Competition’ where second year undergraduate students and above are invited to share their ideas on how science can create a healthier, fairer and greener world, creating a unique opportunity to talk about a subject that really matters to them.

Black History Month

Black History Month is used as a time to give appreciation and recognition of the positive contributions that Black people have made. It also provides an opportunity to celebrate accomplishments, share learning, and allows us time to reflect on the past, whilst being proud of our culture and identity. Each year, we host a variety of events for staff and students to mark Black History Month. For example, our University’s Creative Manchester presented a lecture with award-winning writer, historian and broadcaster, Professor David Olusoga OBE, exploring what it means to be black and British and the role of black history today.

Reducing the University’s air travel emissions

We have cut our air travel emissions by 46% compared to pre-pandemic levels, decreasing them from 18,641 tonnes of CO2e (CO2equivalent) in 2018/19 to just over 10,000 tonnes of CO2e in 2022/23. The reduction in our emissions is equivalent to the carbon produced from driving over 32.5 million miles in an average petrol car. Our new  travel policy, which was put into effect last year, supports our ambition to be a leader in developing sustainable research and teaching practices. It includes several changes such as encouraging staff to have meetings online rather than in-person and to consider travelling by rail rather than air.

Health Inequalities

Policy@Manchester is our University’s policy engagement institute that connects researchers with policymakers and influencers, nurtures long-term policy engagement relationships and seeks to enhance stakeholder understanding of pressing policy challenges. One of the institutes online collections, Health Inequalities draws on research from across the University, and offers evidence-led insight and policy recommendations on the causes, effects, and solutions to heath inequalities.

University Living Lab

Our University Living Lab applies the expertise of students to real-world sustainability challenges through developing student research projects with external organisations to help meet sustainability goals.  Through the University Living Lab, the University has saved CO2 through active travel, shaped municipal climate change policy, increased biodiversity and enabled ethical consumption whilst empowering and equipping the future workforce of a net zero world. In 2022, the Living Lab was nominated for The Earthshot Prize for practical action on climate change.

Top floor of Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum’s Top Floor is a space for people to come together to learn, share ideas and connect with the community. You’ll find education groups, charities, artists, writers, staff and students co-working and collaborating here, with a shared commitment to social and environmental justice. The Museum has also appointed Hannah Hartley as the Environmental Action Manager, where she works across all areas of the museum to drive forward its ambitions in environmental thinking and action, establishing sustainable practices, and building on the Museum’s rich experience in developing narratives and programming in response to the climate crisis.

Irene Manton Lecture

Each year, we host the Irene Manton Lecture in partnership with the Linnean Society of London which celebrates the significant contribution made by women to the Natural Sciences.

DentMan conference

We have an annual, student-led DentMan conference which seeks to encourage students in dentistry to explore our pioneering humanising dentistry concept and give them freedom and space to engage with the community and the wider global society through outreach and volunteering programmes. It also provides a platform for dental students to demonstrate and recognise how they have made a difference to dental health inequalities across Greater Manchester and beyond. In recent years, the conference has reached a global audience, with over 200 staff, students, and oral healthcare professionals from both the University of Manchester and University of Ghana in attendance.

Sustainability Challenge photography competition

We host an annual Sustainability Challenge photography competition, asking students to submit a picture that raises awareness of a sustainability issue that they are passionate about. Alongside this, the challenge encourages students to express their opinions and critically engage with issues relating to climate change.

Sustainable Futures

Sustainable Futures aims to bring together the unique depth and breadth of internationally leading research at our University, as well as interdisciplinary working to produce sustainable solutions for urgent environmental challenges. The organisation also aims to develop complete understandings of the environmental systems on which we depend and how humans interact with them, spurring scientific innovation and facilitating societal change at a scale and pace to address environmental crises.

LGBT History Month

Each year our University marks LGBT+ History Month with a variety of events, awareness raising activities and calls to action to mark the contribution and importance the LGBT+ community has had on the University. Events include exploring aspects of LGBT+ inclusion and a screening of a documentary focusing on intersectionality, followed by a discussion. Members of our alumni are also invited to join a panel where they discuss the theme allocated to LGBT+ History Month for that year.

UCIL Launches Postgraduate Unit Engaging Students with The SDGs

Our University College for interdisciplinary Learning (UCIL) offers a unit that aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to explore and address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the challenges that may occur from creating a sustainable world. The module also features contributions from policymakers, academics and the public, which gives students the unique opportunity to explore the UN’s SDGs in depth.

Early Career Race Network

Based at our University, the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity in collaboration with RACE.ED has developed the Early Career Race Network. The organisation aids early-career scholars specialising in ethnicity and race through regular online and in person workshops that provide support in navigating a career in academia.

International Women’s Day

Each year we celebrate International Women’s Day with various events and activities for students and staff to partake in to increase awareness about discrimination, recognise women’s achievements and take action to drive gender equity.

360 Degree Tour of University Botanical Gardens

The Firs, our botanical garden, is located on the University’s Fallowfield Campus where it is currently used to aid environmental research. The state of the art greenhouse facilities within the gardens are also used for issues relating to food security and climate change. The interactive 360 degree tour enables viewers to explore the greenhouse, select plants and learn interesting facts about them. The virtual tour is also an excellent online resource for both adults and children to learn about the various biomes located at The Firs. Additional information about habitats, photosynthesis and climate change are also available on the tour.

Being Human Festival

Being Human is the UK’s National Festival of the humanities, which celebrates how the discipline enriches everyday living and helps us understand a changing world. Each year the festival invites researchers at universities and other research organisations to collaborate with local community and cultural partners to create exciting and engaging events and projects for all to enjoy.

New Prayer Room Opens at Manchester Museum

The Manchester Museum is committed to creating an inclusive environment to ensure that the Museum is a place where everyone feels they belong. The Prayer room was co-designed with museum staff and faith partners, and is available to anyone to use it for prayer, contemplation, or meditation. The calm and peaceful space is also equipped with chairs, room partitions, prayer mats, religious texts, ablution facilities, shoe covers and a shoe rack.

Manchester-China Friendship Programme enhances social inclusion on Campus

Each year our Manchester China Institute teams up with the Manchester China Forum (MCF) and The University’s International Office to integrate new Chinese students into campus life, while simultaneously enriching the campus experience for local students. The Manchester-China Friendship Programme (MCFP) further seeks to develop mutual understanding and friendships between British and Chinese students which is particularly important at a time when anti-Asian prejudice, discrimination, and aggression has increased in the UK and around the world. Integration is at the heart of the programme, as we hope to address the long-standing issue of hostility and racially targeted violence faced by the Chinese student communities on western campuses.

Tracking Low Carbon Energy Use

Each year we track the amount of low carbon energy used across the University. For example in 2021/22 academic year we used 583GJ from low carbon sources. This comprised of energy from wind, solar, nuclear, solar thermal and ground source heat pumps.

Renewable energy pledge

100% of our electricity consumption is backed with REGO (‘Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin’) certification. This means that for every megawatt (or 1,000kWh) of electricity the University consumes, the equivalent volume of electricity is generated from renewable sources.

We encourage our staff, students and our local community to make a similar move to renewable energy suppliers!

Social responsibility partnerships

Examples of our civic partnerships include:

• those with Manchester City Council on education, planning and the environment;
• the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and other local universities on a new Civic University Agreement to enhance regional social, economic and environmental wellbeing;
• a Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership and Health Innovation Manchester to drive local health improvements;
• the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership to deliver growth, jobs and prosperity for the area;
• Innovation GM to catalyse inclusive economic growth, level up the north, and increase global trade.

We also prioritise global partnerships to advance our work towards the SDGs. These include:

• our Engaged Member status of the global Talloires Network;
• as a founding member of the global University Social Responsibility Network;
• as a member of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI).

SDG partnerships

We signed the international SDG Accord as part of our ongoing commitment to social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Our Alliance Manchester Business School also signed the Principles for Responsible Management in Education (PRME). We are a founding member of the UK’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).

Public engagement partnerships

We partner with a range of organisations to carry out meaningful public engagement with diverse audiences and share ideas and research as well as inspiring informed discussion, debate and creativity.

Examples include:

• partnering with the British Society of Immunology and Royal Society of Biology on a citizen science Britain Breathing programme;
• patient and public involvement and engagement partnerships to inform our clinical research and education;
• working alongside diaspora communities, the British Museum and galleries in the global south to design our Museum’s South Asia Gallery;
• working with private festival organisers on our annual bluedot festival;
• partnering with the cultural sector on the Manchester International Festival, Manchester Literature Festival and Manchester Histories Festival;
• leading public engagement partnerships such as the Creative Ageing Development Agency and international Asociación de Arte Útil.

Q-Step data partnerships

We partner with small local charities in Manchester right through to major government departments through our Q-Step programme.

This places students on internships in organisations that require data skills and analysis and we’ve collaborated on projects with the Office for National Statistics on global, national and regional datasets used to measure progress on SDGs.

Student learning partnerships

We’re committed to empowering students with the knowledge, skills and opportunities to address all of the SDGs through partnerships with public, private and civil society organisations.

Our University Living Lab platform connects student projects with external organisations to address the SDGs.

Our Volunteer Hub acts to advance partnerships between hundreds of charities and our student volunteers.

And many academic programmes offer service-learning partnerships, where external organisations benefit from practical student interventions in areas such as dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, business and legal advice.