News & Event

The University of Manchester Launched a New Social Responsibility and Civic Engagement Website

The United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the world’s call to action on the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing humanity and the natural world. The quality and scale of The University of Manchester’s impact towards the SDGs has been among the top ten globally in the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings in 2022. They play a leading role in tackling them through their research, teaching and learning, public engagement and operations. 

The University of Manchester has recently launched a new social responsibility and civic engagement website which includes a searchable microsite highlighting the wide range of activities that take place across the University to address the Sustainable Development Goals.  

The new website reflects their social responsibility and civic engagement plan and sets out their ambitions for the next three years. The website focuses on the University’s five social responsibility priorities – social inclusion; prosperous communities; better health; environmental sustainability and cultural engagement.  

Within this new website, the searchable microsite highlights how they are addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through our research, learning and students, public engagement activities and responsible campus operations. The site outlines each of the 17 SDGs and provides case studies from across the University.   

To highlight how the University are incorporating the SDGs into their teaching and learning, they have recently undertaken a pilot project for all undergraduate courses in their Faculty of Science and Engineering to be kite-marked with the relevant Sustainable Development Goals in which they address. This will enable prospective students to immediately see how the course they are interested links to the SDGs and how this learning will make a difference in the world. Following the successful pilot project, work is now underway for all undergraduate courses to be tagged.  

Commenting on this work, Dr Jennifer O’Brien, the University’s Academic Lead for Sustainability Teaching and Learning, said:   

Social Responsibility is at the heart of everything we do at the University of Manchester. Kite-marking our degrees with their relevant SDGs heightens awareness of the UN’s ‘Global Compact’ whilst illustrating the impact that Manchester learning has on the world through the 43,000-strong force for change, that is our students. This process has been helpful to map the strengths of our research-led teaching to social and environmental priorities local to global, but also to identify future opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching and research.   

In addition, within the University’s Research Portal, there is the option to explore how the University’s researchers and their work are contributing towards achieving the SDGs. 

  • See more about how they are addressing the SDGs.  
  • Download their 2021/22 SDG report
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