Open sessions: Social responsibility, civic engagement and public engagement
19 Jan 2026
Find out more about our commitment to social responsibility and civic engagement
The University’s M2035 strategy places being values-led and socially responsible as a foundation of what we do, reaffirming our commitment to making a difference and creating positive change locally and globally.
In early 2026 we will be running three online sessions for colleagues to provide an overview of what social responsibility means in practice - highlighting our priorities, key initiatives and opportunities for you to get involved. If you would like to understand how our work in social responsibility aligns with the M2035 strategy and what it means for your area of work, join us for these sessions.
Who should attend?
These sessions will be useful to anyone who wishes to find out more about the impact of our social responsibility, civic engagement and public engagement activities; discover more about key programmes and people behind their delivery; and engage with our plans for the future.
Chaired by senior leaders and delivered by guest speakers, the sessions will provide real-life examples of our work and the impact it has. Each session will provide time for questions, audience perspective and feedback.
Participants can attend as many or as few sessions as they wish.
Online session information
Introduction to social responsibility and civic engagement – 12pm, Wednesday, 11 February (online)
Nalin Thakker, Vice President for Social Responsibility and Julian Skyrme, Executive Director of Social Responsibility will provide an overview of social responsibility and our plans for 2026 and beyond.
Real-life examples of work taking place in Faculties and the impact they have will be presented by: Lynne Bianchi, Vice-Dean for Social Responsibility in the Faculty of Science and Engineering; Dimitris Papadimitriou, Vice-Dean for Social Responsibility in the Faculty of Humanities and Hawys Williams, Social Responsibility and Public Engagement Manager in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health.
Public engagement – what, why, how – 12pm, Wednesday, 25 March (online)
Chaired by Professor Stephanie Snow, Academic Lead for Public Engagement with Research, the session will feature inspiring examples of public engagement work shared by academic colleagues from across multiple disciplines. We’ll showcase the breadth, depth and impact of our public engagement activity - from inspiring audiences to working in partnership with communities to make a difference. We’ll also touch on principles for meaningful public engagement and share some tips for how you too can get involved in public engagement.
Civic engagement – 12pm, Wednesday, 22 April 2026 (online)
Led by John Holden, Vice President for Civic Engagement and Innovation, the session will provide an overview of our civic engagement activity and impact across Greater Manchester, the city, region and beyond. We’ll highlight examples of our diverse civic partnerships in practice and showcase how we address local and global challenges through our research, teaching and operations to advance social, economic, environmental, health and cultural wellbeing.
- Book one or more sessions by completing this MS form.
In-person Community of Practice session
Engagement@Manchester: Creative Practice - Wednesday, 4 February 12.30pm – 1.40pm at 2.220 University Place, Oxford Road (in-person)
Are you interested in public engagement? Would you like to hear and share some inspiring ideas and practice? Do you want to network with other like-minded engaging people? Join our Community of Practice session as we explore creative practices to engage audiences, a Q&A and networking with our guest speakers:
- Laura Pottinger will join us to talk about 'Moss Stitch', a creative workshop organised as part of the UMRI funded MossWorlds project, and considers the wider potential of textile making for facilitating novel forms of attention, conversation and public engagement.
- Lindsay Pressdee will join us to talk about Game Changers, a community-engaged sustainability project that tackles textile waste by transforming surplus sportswear into new products through hands-on upcycling workshops.
We will supply tea/coffee and cake, and you are welcome to bring your lunch along to the session.