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: Operations
Cycle September
Every September, our University takes part in a fun and friendly biking competition called Cycle September. The initiative encourages staff and students to ditch their cars and hop on their bicycles for their daily commute. In 2023, we placed 1st in Greater Manchester and 3rd overall in the UK, but there’s more to it than just the competition, choosing to cycle improves physical and mental wellbeing, reduces our carbon footprint and helps decrease traffic congestion around campus.
Manchester Museum repatriation project
Our Manchester Museum has been working with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) and the Anindilyakwa Land Council on a landmark repatriation project, returning 174 cultural heritage items to the Aboriginal Anindilyakwa community of Australia’s Northern Territory. The process of returning these items has supported Anindilyakwa cultural strengthening and revitalisation.
Sister, £1.7bn innovation district
Previously known as ID Manchester, Sister is a joint venture between The University of Manchester and Bruntwood SciTech. The project will see the transformation of the University’s former North campus into a 4 million sq ft globally competitive innovation district and will help elevate Manchester’s position as a national centre for science and technology.
It will deliver commercial, innovation, and retail space, over 1,500 new homes, nine acres of public realm, and create more than 10,000 new jobs, training, and apprenticeship opportunities for people across Greater Manchester.
Our Sustainable Future
Our environmental sustainability strategy, Our Sustainable Future, describes how we will reduce our carbon footprint, promote sustainability in our teaching and learning and research and innovation, and engage and support our community in the transition to a more sustainable society. Our strategy sets out the practical steps we are committing to, where it is already clear how best to protect and enhance our environment. We commit to transparency in reporting our progress towards our sustainability goals. We also outline our commitment to collaboration and deep enquiry where the solutions are less obvious, the challenges more complex or we need to be part of a broader shift to make the necessary changes possible.
Raheem Sterling scholarships
Our University, alongside King’s College London, are proud to partner with The Raheem Sterling Foundation to offer scholarships to support Black African and Caribbean heritage applicants from socio-economically under-represented backgrounds. The Raheem Sterling Foundation envisions a world where young people will always have the support they need in the pursuit of improving their opportunities, their future careers and their quality of life. The foundation aims to fund seven students on undergraduate degree programmes at The University of Manchester over the next three years.
The Staying Safe Programme
Our University is one of two pilot institutions for ‘The Staying Safe Programme’ (TSSP), a new drug education initiative designed to educate students about drug use and minimise associated harms. This program marks a shift from a zero-tolerance approach to student drug use, favouring harm reduction policies and procedures instead. The harm reduction approach acknowledges that young people may use controlled drugs and aims to help them reduce the associated risks. In contrast, the zero-tolerance approach can create stigma and hinder access to support. Our approach is grounded in harm reduction principles, ensuring that students who engage in drug use are informed about the risks, equipped to make informed choices, and confident in seeking support without facing penalties. The University’s adoption of harm reduction policies aligns with the recent call by Universities UK (UUK) for universities to implement such practices.
Stonewall ranking
Stonewall is Europe’s largest charity for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning and ace (LGBTQ+) people and each year ranks organisations for their LGBTQ+ inclusion practices against other organisations. Up to 500 organisations take part in the annual Index, in which we have ranked in the top 100 for eight consecutive years. This year, our University scored 133 out of 197 in its Workplace Equality Index submission, ranked 7th overall, and also achieved a Gold award for meeting specific criteria around a number of identified measures for LGBT+ inclusion.
Creating prosperous communities
We’re unique among UK universities in having social responsibility as a core goal in our strategic plan, Our Future. Our vision for prosperous communities is to increase economic well being, develop new sectors, innovate, and improve productivity for all people and all areas of our city region. We’re using our knowledge and discovery to enhance innovation in key economic sectors of the national and regional economy through initiatives and also working in partnership and sharing our knowledge and expertise locally and nationally to advance prosperity by prioritising University engagement on national and regional economic policy developments.
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.
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.
Historic links with slavery
Dr Natalie Zacek, Senior Lecturer in American Studies and Professor Nalin Thakkar, Vice President for Social Responsibility have conducted preliminary research that analyses the connections between the University’s predecessor institutions and historical slavery. This research has been carried out in response to our Race Matters report. The article has initiated new conversations that seek to address the implications, responsibilities and opportunities for the University to develop a deeper understanding of the past.
School Governor Initiative
The University has one of the UK’s most extensive programmes of work with local state schools and colleges. In accordance with the University’s access and participation plan with the Office for Students, we deliver a School Governor Initiative that helps staff and alumni to find volunteering placements as governors in local schools.
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.
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:
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:
University governance
We have a duty to conduct our affairs in a responsible and transparent way.
The Board of Governors is our governing body, carrying ultimate responsibility for our overall strategic direction and for the management of our finances, property and affairs generally, including the employment arrangements for all staff. Its membership of 23 has a majority of persons who aren’t employed by the University, known as lay members and its Chair is appointed by the Board from within the lay category of the membership. Members of our Senate, support staff and student representatives are also elected to serve on the Board.
The General Assembly is a much larger body than the Board of Governors. In common with the Board, it has a majority of lay members. Lay members are drawn from a wide range of local, regional and national interests, and together they offer the University a wealth of experience and expertise from differing perspectives and backgrounds.
Biodiversity on campus
To help promote biodiversity on campus, we’ve developed:
- an online, interactive campus Tree Trail highlighting 50 of the 1,500 trees across Oxford Road Campus, North Campus and Whitworth Park.
- a tree plan requiring the planting of two trees for every one removed by our campus developments.
- UMAPIT (University of Manchester Animal Positions and Information Tracker) – a bespoke app to allows the public to record sightings of urban wildlife species.
We ensure our biodiversity hotspots are taken care of:
The Firs is located on the University’s Fallowfield campus and houses a suite of facilities for environmental research, monitoring and engagement.
Our UNESCO World Heritage site, Jodrell Bank, is another area rich in biodiversity.
We’ve also transformed a former road into Brunswick Park – a pocket park to enhance green space and wellbeing on campus.
Making labs greener
Leading the way in achieving the University’s pledge to eliminate avoidable single-use plastic usage, staff in our School of Biological Sciences are reducing single-use plastics in the lab through adoption of a 6R approach.
This has included:
- refining protocol and optimising waste management;
- reducing single-use items;
- re-using materials, plastic containers and gloves;
- using recycled material;
- replacing plastics where possible with glass, paper or wood.
Watershed management
We’ve implemented watershed management strategies based on location-specific diversity of aquatic species.
These ensure flow rates of water run-off in our urban environment are decreased and water quality is improved, including reducing flow into our local River Medlock on campus.
At our rural Jodrell Bank site, we’ve also reduced flow into our local watercourses, protecting the great crested newt – a protected species that relies on aquatic life.
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.
Towards net zero
The University has pledged to support Manchester’s climate change target for zero carbon by 2038.
This involves reducing carbon emissions from a 2018 baseline of 54,000 tCO2 to at least 21,000 tCO2 by 2025 and placing carbon impact at the heart of strategic decision making in the University’s new strategic plan.
Social Value Portal
We’ve become the first higher education institution in the UK to adopt the Social Value Portal, the leading online tool that helps organisations prioritise and measure their social value when they procure, or pay for, major services.
