Our work on Goal 8

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

As one of the world’s leading research institutions and the UK’s first university to have social responsibility as a core goal, we’re tackling the SDGs in four inter-related ways: through our research, learning and students, public engagement activity and operations.

Here’s a selection of our work addressing Goal 8.

Research

University Researcher Gives Evidence to Support Levelling Up through R&D

A researcher at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research at the University has given a speech at the Geography of Innovation international conference held in Milan, Italy in July to support an increase in R&D (research and development) public spending across the UK regions. This comes after concerns that the regional sub-national R&D is unevenly distributed, with London and the South East (LSE) accounting for 54% of the UK’s private R&D spending and 52% of the UK Government’s R&D expenditure. On Productivity a report written by experts from our University also seeks to understand and address gaps in economic performance across the UK.

ESRC Festival of Social Science

The ESRC festival of Social Science is an annual celebration of the research conducted in social sciences and its profound impact on society. It offers a fascinating insight into some of the country’s leading research and how it influences our social, economic, and political lives – both now and in the future. The festival is open to everyone and is a unique opportunity to engage directly with researchers about the projects they work on.

 

Learning and students

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.

EDI interdisciplinary course unit

Our new interdisciplinary unit, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI): Your Role in Shaping a Fairer World, is open to all undergraduate students and empowers them to take responsibility for promoting inclusive approaches to study and work.

 

Public engagement

Capacity-building for NGOs, businesses and government

We deliver free activities and resources for the public, private and third sector including vocational training, executive education and continued professional development.

We’ve helped create a pioneering NGO Explorer to build networks, increase transparency and provide potential for commissioning of work with NGOs through a searchable database.

Our annual Prometheus programme offers learning and development opportunities for third-sector leaders to make their organisations grow and be economically sustainable.

Good employment

Our Alliance Manchester Business School has partnered with regional organisations and authorities to create the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, which aims to advance decent work and employment standards across our city region.

We have also joined campaigns with Citizens UK to highlight our role as a living wage organisation.

 

Operations

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.

Manchester Innovation Factory

Our Manchester Innovation Factory helps protect and commercialise our innovations and intellectual property by creating 15-20 new spin-out companies each year based on our novel ideas.