Goal 15: Learning and students
The University’s learning and student activities play a key role in our approach to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Here’s a wider showcase of our work addressing Goal 15.
The Green Wellbeing Project is a project where volunteering is ‘prescribed’ to students rather than medication if appropriate. Jointly managed by the University’s Volunteering and Awards and the Social Prescribing teams along with the team at the University’s Firs Botanical Gardens, the project sees regular volunteers attending weekly.
All staff involved ensure participating students feel emotionally and mentally supported, with all the volunteering activities benefiting the environment and the wider community. Activities include repotting bulbs, weeding, planting up hanging baskets and prepping beds for an evolution garden.
Each year, over 17,000 students graduate from The University of Manchester, many of whom are already making contributions to our city and beyond through healthcare, education and protecting the natural environment. At each graduation ceremony, we celebrate our graduates and ask them ‘how do they hope to make a difference following their degree?’ Watch our Greater Manchester Graduates YouTube playlist.
Fallowfield community project is a long-term initiative to reduce the waste and fly-tipping issues and to improve recycling rates on the Fallowfield Brow. Students from our University volunteer alongside local residents, Manchester Student Homes, Manchester City Council and Biffa to remove litter from an alleyway, clear weeds and install new planters to make a positive impact on the local community and the environment.
As part of our partnership with the local NGO, Manchester City of Trees, students can use our Volunteer Hub to sign up for one-off or weekly tree planting sessions or even become a Citizen Forester.
Our student volunteering is supporting their mission of planting one tree for every person across Greater Manchester, creating a healthier and more sustainable city region.
Our BA Geography students undertake a Food and Farming unit covering hunger, ethical consumerism, environmental sustainability, animal rights and social equity.
Biosciences undergraduates take a Plants for the Future unit exploring how plant biology can address social and environmental challenges.
Through a Green Biotechnology unit, students engage with the latest developments in sustainable food production, energy generation and pharmaceutical production.