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: Priorities
Gender equality in global value chains
Our research into agriculture and apparel sectors in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and collaboration with three large UK retailers, has led to more than 390,000 workers in value chains in low- and middle-income countries directly benefiting from the implementation of gender-equitable strategies.
More than a million workers have been indirectly advantaged through opportunities for women to advance to leadership positions and new strategies from companies that have the potential to reach 33 million workers in 180 countries.
Library and open access
Our University Library is one of only five National Research Libraries in the UK.
It offers reference facilities to north-west sixth-form and mature students and their teachers to help with A-level, vocational and Access course work.
ProjectInc
Our Manchester Museum hosts and partners with ProjectInc, a Specialist College for Creative Education, to make our cultural institutions more inclusive, engaging and creative for neurodiverse young people.
Imagine Me Stories
Our Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health partners with Manchester Metropolitan University and Keele University on Imagine Me Stories.
This is a school library diversity initiative designed to tackle under-representation in UK school libraries by curating diverse resources and promoting better representation in literature for all students.
Great Science Share for Schools
Our Science and Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub undertakes a range of public engagement campaigns.
These include the Great Science Share for Schools and the Greater Manchester Engineering Challenge, which enhances the University’s work in broadening the pipeline of young people with an interest in STEM subjects.
IntoUniversity Manchester North
We partner with the IntoUniversity Manchester North educational charity to support and engage some of the most disadvantaged young people in Manchester.
IntoUniversity helps young people to attain a university place or another chosen aspiration. 71% of its students progress to university, compared with 43% of students from similar backgrounds nationally.
Educating the region’s school children during lockdown to minimise disadvantage
During the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns of 2020, our partnership with the Tutor Trust charity provided online sessions to ensure disadvantaged students didn’t suffer the risk of falling behind in their education without regular teaching in the classroom.
Students from The University of Manchester make up more than half of those who work as Tutor Trust tutors in Manchester.
#BeeWell
#BeeWell is an initiative established in Greater Manchester in 2019 by our University, Anna Freud, The Gregson Family Foundation, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The programme aims to explore young people’s opinions on wellbeing and the ways in which it can be improved. The findings inform activity across Greater Manchester, with schools, voluntary sector organisations and children’s services working closely with young people to interpret and act on the results.
Diversifying the school history curriculum
The collaborative History Lessons research project found that young people were keen to learn more inclusive histories, but teachers needed additional support and new resources for a more inclusive curriculum.
From this, we developed Our Migration Story with The Runnymede Trust and University of Cambridge, creating multiple award-winning web resources, lesson plans and classroom activities exploring the opportunities and challenges faced by Britain’s migrant communities.
Green spaces, health and wellbeing
Our Natural and Cultural Health Service is a programme of outdoor activities run by the Whitworth to promote good physical and mental wellbeing.
Staff, students and the public are also encouraged to use our FIRS botanical gardens to bring gardening, wellbeing and botany to more people.
Sports participation
Our Sporticipate programme serves to provide free and low-cost entry-level sport sessions for the University and wider community.
Sports staff also facilitate volunteering by colleagues and students for the good of local organisations.
Health Innovation Manchester
Health Innovation Manchester works to develop and deploy new solutions that improve the health and wellbeing of Greater Manchester’s 2.8 million citizens.
We work in partnership with other regional institutions, authorities and health experts to respond to healthcare challenges across Greater Manchester, and drive national and global innovation agendas in frontline care.
Educating diverse communities about parasitic infections
Our researchers studying parasites have engaged diverse communities in the UK and Madagascar to share research findings and develop resources and toolkits to raise awareness, understanding and dialogue about parasitic worm infection.
Community mapping
Our School of Environment, Education and Development regularly conduct #Huckathon sessions to engage hundreds of volunteers to remotely map hidden villages, roads and dwellings to target health interventions.
Protecting Kenyan communities against COVID-19
Our School of Environment, Education and Development and Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health worked with partners in Kenya to undertake initial surveys and set up a campaign to engage more than 200,000 people to change behaviour and improve knowledge surrounding coronavirus and the use of face masks.
Humanising Healthcare
Our Humanising Healthcare initiative embeds community service and engagement within dentistry, pharmacy and optometry programmes.
It supports students to deliver essential healthcare and education to communities as part of the curriculum.
It also encourages global volunteering and the development of civic values and skills in the future health workforce.
Health and wellbeing study programmes
We have the UK’s largest medical school and are the biggest provider of graduate healthcare professionals to the NHS in England’s north-west.
We also offer pioneering professional programmes in areas including global health, humanitarianism and international healthcare leadership.
Preventing cardiovascular disease through smart technologies
Our academics are part of a collaboration to improve cardiovascular care in Indonesia.
The team trained local health workers (kaders) on cardiovascular disease, risk factors and the technical use of an app called SMARThealth, benefiting 48,000 people.
Tackling groundwater arsenic and health inequalities in India
In northern India’s rural communities, increased exposure to high concentrations of arsenic and other chemicals found in groundwater has contributed to a rise in cancer and cardiovascular disease, adding to the public health inequalities and poor health outcomes of the region.
Our Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences has shown the importance of rice as an exposure route for inorganic arsenic where microbes promote its release from materials such as sand and silt.
This research led to recommendations focusing on rice selection and preparation techniques, highlighting the dangers of groundwater irrigation.
Community Fridge
Our student-run, campus zero waste shop, Want Not Waste, holds a community fridge.
This contains food from unsold meals offered by local business and surplus raw ingredients provided by our catering outlets.
Stocking these items combats local food waste while helping to tackle food insecurity within our own university community.
Kindling Trust
We support the Kindling Trust, a local organisation aiming to combat climate change, biodiversity loss, and economic inequity, by challenging and subverting the industrial food system. We buy vegetables through Kindling’s operatives and have taken shares in Kindling Farm – a new blueprint for fair, organic and ecological farming.
Take a Bite out of Climate Change
Our Take a Bite out of Climate Change partnership aims to share the scientific consensus about how food and agriculture contribute to climate change. It funds easily accessible information and fun activities for citizens such as Climate Food Flashcards, Farming for the Future workshops and the free e-book Food and Climate Change – Without the Hot Air.
