SEED colleagues shine at University's Making A Difference Awards

11 May 2026

Staff from the School of Environment, Education and Development took home three awards and three high commendations from the University's flagship social responsibility awards

The winners of the 2026 Making A Difference Awards were announced on Thursday 6 May and it was a great night for the School of Environment, Education and Development, with colleagues from SEED winning three awards and receiving three highly commended recognitions.

In the  'Outstanding benefit to society through research' category, Daniela Cocco Beltrame (GDI) and 25 co-researchers from the SDI Network won the award for emerging impact for 'Intergenerational movement-building for more just urban futures'. Find out more about their research here.

Niamh Kavanagh (Architecture) and community organiser Tina Cribbin won the award for 'Outstanding public engagement initiative' for 'Hulme Nannas: (in)visibility, community and urban change'. Find out more about Hulme Nannas here. 

Jen O'Brien (Geography) is part of the Greater Manchester Civic Universities Green Skills Working Group which won the award for 'Outstanding contribution to social and environmental impact through entrepreneurship' for the Green Careers Mission. Find out more about Green Careers Mission here. 

Amanda Banks Gatenby and Sara Jackson (MIE) were highly commended in the 'Outstanding public engagement initiative' category for 'UoM EHE family science: Curiosity catalyst', their project engaging with home-educating families to give them better access to science education. 

Tom Fryer (MIE) was highly commended in the 'Outstanding contribution to widening access and student success' category for 'Supporting the UCAS personal statement reform to widen participation'.

The Very Local Maths Team, which includes colleagues from the Manchester Institute of Education and the School of Natural Sciences, were highly commended in the 'Outstanding contribution to widening access and student success' for The Very Local Maths Project.

The Making a Difference Awards for Social Responsibility are the University's annual awards recognising the outstanding achievements of our staff, students, alumni and external partners, and celebrating how they are making a difference.

See the full list of award winners and commendations here.