Our work on Goal 11

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

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 11.

Research

Investigating the Housing and Construction Sector’s Role in Net-Zero Challenges

A research team from the Alliance Manchester Business School and Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIOIR) is working on a project for The Productivity Institute: ‘Addressing the net-zero and productivity challenges: How could the housing and construction sector play a key role?’. The team is looking to develop a more precise understanding of the productivity challenges in the construction sector and hope to uncover ways in which more sustainable practices can deliver productivity improvements. The research project focuses on solutions for the UK market and involves extensive collaboration with industry. Importantly, the ultimate aim is to help advance towards the UK’s net-zero target and improve productivity growth targets.

Project Helps Leaders Make Greater Manchester More Age-Friendly

To mark the UN’s International Day of Older Persons a lecturer in Social and Cultural Geography from our University has created a booklet which showcases the different ways older age is experienced in Greater Manchester, alongside an accompanying animation. This booklet offers a guide to a more immersive, flexible, creative and participatory approach for engaging with those within the category – enabling policy communities, academics, and others to gain a richer, localised and more personal understanding of what it means to be an older person. The project also responds to research and campaigns that have found representations of older age often fall back on medicalised, stereotypical accounts of what constitutes older lives.

 

Learning and students

University holds 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. Winners are selected by a panel made up of Faculty academic and professional services staff, alumni and sci comms students.

Manchester Launches First Ever Museum Sector-Specific Carbon Literacy Toolkit

We launched the first ever museum sector-specific Carbon Literacy toolkit as part of Roots & Branches, a partnership between Manchester Museum, Museum Development North West (MDNW), and The Carbon Literacy project. The toolkit helps museum professionals and volunteers undertake training, to then certify as Carbon Literate. This foundational work supports staff, volunteers, and partners to build their understanding of climate action, so that they can make informed sustainable choices. The project also encourages museums to develop organisational pledges to act against climate change.

 

Public engagement

Top Floor of Manchester Museum Opens Up

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.

Confronting the Climate on Manchester’s Curry Mile

Last year researchers from the University’s Sustainable Consumption institute (SCI), held an event as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science. ‘Mangoes, Meat and Motors: confronting the climate on Manchester’s Curry Mile’ took place at our Whitworth Art Gallery, with the purpose of encouraging a community-facing, friendly and generative discussion about how to make the Curry Mile a place that serves people and the environment better. The event was attended by local residents, businesses, grassroots activists and ten councillors and officers from the Manchester City Council.

 

Operations

Working Together to Achieve Living Wage City

At the University of Manchester we are proud to be part of the City of Manchester team who worked together to achieve the Living Wage City Status. The University is a pioneer and advocate for the Real Living Wage in the City and has been a Real Wage employer since 2019.

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.