Ideas at Work – research shaped with communities, for communities
21 Oct 2026
New campaign shows how Humanties colleagues and citizens are working together to turn great research into public good, bringing our Manchester 2035 ambitions to life.
From giving a voice to disaster hit communities in Nepal to understanding how people experience everyday inequality and helping people get involved in cultural spaces, humanities researchers are working with communities to create meaningful change.
The new Ideas at Work campaign showcases three projects from the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures that put people, partnership and lived experience at the heart of research.
Together, they bring to life two of our Manchester 2035 leaps: Research excellence to impact and A university to partner with, demonstrating how excellent research and strong partnerships can help turn knowledge into public good.
Putting communities at the heart of disaster recovery
Navigating disaster across the world can raise several questions, including whose voices should shape disaster governance.
Working alongside communities affected by earthquakes, floods and COVID-19 in Nepal, Dr Nimesh Dhungana co-developed a just recovery framework for more inclusive disaster recovery. The research has helped amplify community voices in policy discussions and informed advocacy and accountability initiatives across multiple countries.
Exploring everyday inequality
Working with Poverty Truth, Dr Wren Radford used creative methods including poetry, reflection and workshops to explore lived experiences of everyday inequality.
The project placed community voices at the centre of the research. Creating new insights into social change through the co-produced journal Filled to the Brim. The work has been shared with the Scottish and Welsh governments and local councils in Manchester.
Understanding participation through filmmaking
Closer to home, Dr Sophie Everest and Dr Andy Hardman worked with volunteers at Platt Hall in Fallowfield to explore how people experience and participate in cultural spaces.
Through co-produced films, the project used filmmaking as both a research method and evaluation tool, capturing how cultural participation shapes people's relationships with place and belonging, with community members actively involved in the filmmaking process.
Research shaped through partnership
While the projects tackle different challenges, they share a common approach: working with communities as partners in research rather than creating knowledge in isolation.
Professor Maggie Gale, Head of the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, said: “These projects epitomise the importance of the range and breadth of work our researchers are developing and carrying out with partners outside of academia.
“It also highlights the ongoing achievements of some of our early career researchers and the ways they are challenging more traditional approaches to knowledge production, both inside and outside of the University.”
Over the coming weeks, Ideas at Work will share more stories showing how humanities research and partnership are making a difference locally, nationally and internationally.
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