Directory of activities
Search these pages to explore a selection of our directory of activities. You can use the keyword search and filter
buttons to discover how we are addressing each of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and the five
priorities in our Social Responsibility and Civic Engagement Plan. You can also filter activities by
location and function.
searching subjects: Global
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.
Using AI to tackle humanity’s greatest challenges
The University has been working with an international team of colleagues to create a pioneering research platform called ‘Virtual Labs’, which uses autonomous AI to retrieve and share relevant knowledge with research teams around the world who are now in a race to mitigate the impact of climate change. The technology will also help fast-track new research and innovation to support breakthroughs in diverse areas of study, from the development of new advanced materials to the design of new drugs.
Young People at a Crossroads
The voices of 40 migrant-background 14-18-year-olds in Manchester and Melbourne have taken part in producing a climate education resource for teachers, students and researchers, entitled Young People at a Crossroads: Stories of climate education, action and adaptation from around the world. The project was led by the University of Manchester’s Sustainable Consumption Institute in partnership with researchers at the University of Melbourne. The team set out to explore and enable conversations about climate change in homes where, through migration, parents and young people grew up in times and places with different exposures to environmental challenges and different information about climate change.
UK-China International Photography competition
Each year the University’s Manchester China institute alongside Creative Manchester organise the UK-China International Photography competition to demonstrate how creative expression can form the bridge between building mutual understanding and empathy across different cultures. The competition encourages both local and international communities in Manchester to engage through the medium of art, and in the process, celebrate unique cultures whilst highlighting our shared commonalities.
Caring in a Changing Climate
Dr. Sherilyn MacGregor, Reader in Environmental Politics at our University, is the lead author of a major report ‘Caring in a Changing Climate‘ commissioned by Oxfam America that investigates the impacts of climate breakdown, climate mitigation and adaptations on care work. The report calls for greater actions to limit greenhouse gas emissions and a more significant focus on the nexus of climate and care work within policy and research. It points to the need for climate initiatives to pursue gender-transformative approaches via the adoption of care sensitive interventions.
Manchester Day of Action
Manchester Day of Action (MDoA) is our annual flagship volunteer programme where alumni from across the world are invited to choose a local project that needs volunteer assistance. Each project relates to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and a team of alumni work together to support the project during the ‘Day of Action,’ which takes place during the summer.
Manchester-China Friendship Programme
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.
Preventing aquatic ecosystem damage
Our work in hydrology and hydrochemistry to understand metals, carbon and gases in water systems has led to the development of a highly successful spin-out company, Salamander, which has brought to market two cutting-edge pieces of water monitoring software – chloroclam and hydroclam – which are being used in industry to improve water and marine system monitoring. We have also undertaken work to understand hypoxia – dead fish zones – which has directly informed marine industry practice on aquatic ecosystems.
Social responsibility partnerships
Examples of our civic partnerships include:
We also prioritise global partnerships to advance our work towards the SDGs. These include:
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:
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.
In Place of War project
In Place of War (IPOW) is a global spin-out charity from research in our School of Music and Drama.
IPOW works with grassroots organisations in refugee camps, war-affected villages, towns under curfew, cities under occupation, and refugee communities, using creativity in places of conflict as a proven tool for positive change.
IPOW enables communities and grassroots change-makers in music, theatre and across the arts to transform a culture of violence and suffering into hope, opportunity and freedom.
Species conservation
Our Manchester Museum Vivarium is dedicated to the conservation of reptiles and amphibians.
We recently partnered with Panama Wildlife Charity PWCC on non-invasive research and conservation education involving local communities in the Santa Fe National Park in Panama.
This led to a world first in 2021: one of the world’s rarest toads, the Harlequin Frog, was successfully bred in captivity outside its country of origin, at our museum.
We also curate a world-famous FrogBlog and deliver a digital Learning with Lucy conservation programme for schools.
Community forestry in Nepal
Deforestation is the second leading cause of climate change after fossil fuels, accounting for almost a fifth of planet-warming emissions.
Our researchers led an international and interdisciplinary team of ecologists, economists and political scientists in the largest ever study of community forestry.
Studying 18,000 community-led forest initiatives in Nepal we found that community-forest management led to a 37% relative reduction in deforestation and a 4.3% relative reduction in poverty.
Getting to the root of poor soil health and bringing it back to life
Researchers in our Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences have examined degraded soils of grasslands in Kenya and China to understand the role of soil biodiversity in creating and supporting healthy ecosystems.
We’ve scaled up novel approaches to harness ecological connections between native soil microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, algae) and native plants to accelerate recovery from degraded to healthy soil.
Tools have been developed to provide accessible and practical knowledge for local communities to repair soils and public and policy awareness has been raised of the vital importance of soil biodiversity on a global scale.
Ocean warming and shark survival
Our undergraduate students have assisted a study into the effects of warming ocean waters on the small-spotted catshark embryo’s freeze response: a technique whereby the embryo stops moving so that predators won’t detect them.
The research found that with a 5°C water temperature increase there was a seven-fold decrease in the length of time the embryos froze for in the presence of a predator stimuli, indicating that as oceans warm, many shark and ray species may reduce in number due to increased predation.
Removing harmful pollutants from industrial wastewater with innovative technology
Researchers in Chemical Engineering and Analytical Sciences have worked with our spin-out company Arvia Technology to develop an electrochemical process that has dramatically reduced wastewater pollution levels and enabled water recycling across numerous industries.
The Arvia process has reduced pollutant levels from pesticides to match UK drinking water standards; removed 90% of pharmaceutical residues and natural hormones from industrial wastewater; and reduced the release of high microbial wastewaters which can cause anti-microbial resistance.
Arvia Technology has now installed treatment systems in 25 companies across 11 countries, including the UK and China.
Divesting from fossil fuels
We’re ending investments in fossil fuel reserve and extraction companies by 2022, and ‘decarbonising’ all other investments by 2038.
This policy was developed in consultation with the University’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and our Students’ Union.
The carbon footprint of the music industry
Climate scientists at our Tyndall Centre are partnering with Bristol-based band Massive Attack to jointly examine the carbon footprint of the music industry.
Utilising data from the Massive Attack touring schedule will provide information and guidance to the wider music industry to reduce negative environmental impacts.
GrowGreen project
Our academics are involved in GrowGreen, a five year, EU-wide project that promotes nature-based solutions to climate change.
The project involves a range of citizens, business and public-private partnerships in neighbourhoods and across cities to promote learning, sharing and replicating nature-based solutions and strategies to urban sustainability challenges.
Changing how international policy organisations understand and manage environmental problems
Research by Alliance Manchester Business School has demonstrated how large-scale transitions are needed to deliver significant climate change.
This has transformed how reducing greenhouse gas emissions is understood and addressed by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and has fed directly into policy recommendations made by the European Environment Agency.
Setting the standard for cleaner skies
Research from our School of Natural Sciences and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science formed an integral part of informing new regulatory standards on emissions of non-volatile particulate matter (nvPM), the metric used for aircraft emissions regulation. The work has enabled two new international standards for soot emission measurement; contributed to an aircraft emission regulatory update, affecting air quality around the world; and is also driving a reduction in global aviation soot in new aircraft engines.
Sustainable Cities MOOC
Our academics have contributed to a free massive open online course (MOOC) developed with Lund University, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.
83,000 students around the world have used this to explore key trends of urbanisation and sustainability and apply this in advancing sustainability in cities around the world.
African Cities Research Consortium
Our African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC), funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) as part of UK Aid, tackles complex problems in some of Africa’s fastest growing urban areas. Aimed at reducing urban poverty and inequality, our research will generate new evidence to catalyse integrated, sustainable, inclusive approaches to urban development in partnership with frontline humanitarian responders, effective policy influencers, local government networks and deeply rooted civil society groups.
