Goal 12: Research

The University’s research activities play a key role in our approach to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Here’s a wider showcase of our work addressing Goal 12.

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.

University Living Lab Nominated for an Earthshot prize

The University Living Lab applies the expertise of students to real-world sustainability challenges through developing student research projects with external organisations to help meet sustainability goals. The University Living Lab was created after Dr Jennifer O’Brien from our University’s School of Environment, Education and Development and Academic Lead for Sustainability Teaching and Learning was awarded a Higher Education and SDGs Challenge Grant by the Association of  Commonwealth Universities (ACU). In 2022, over 40,000 staff and students at our University were nominated for The Earthshot Prize for their practical action on climate change. The Earthshot Prize utilizes the massive global force for sustainability to produce change whilst shaping the decision makers of the future. In the last two years, the University has saved CO2 through active travel, shaped municipal climate change policy, increased biodiversity and enabled ethical consumption whilst empowering and equipping the future workforce of a net zero world.

Report Highlights Innovative Solutions to Public Food Procurement in Greater Manchester

A researcher at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and the Sustainable Consumption Institute has co-published a report entitled ‘Being Brave: Innovative Solutions to Public Food Procurement.’ The report highlights how to improve food systems and the resilience of food procurement while also reducing its impact on the climate. The report also finds that there is a pressing need to improve school food provision and that adopting a more sustainable approach to school meals could facilitate substantial benefits in children’s nutrition and health, as well as reduced carbon emissions.