Nalin Thakkar and Ele Morrissey – Manchester 2035: Advancing our social responsibility
How will we keep at the forefront of social responsibility and take it to the next level in the next 10 years? Now is our opportunity to write the next chapter of our work in service to society.
Introduction
Our commitment to social responsibility and civic engagement is a defining part of Manchester’s identity, global reputation and performance. This commitment will be unwavering in our next strategy. But how will we keep at the forefront and take social responsibility to the next level in the next 10 years?
The world in 2035
“The two most critical characteristics of universities: they serve society as both a responsive servant and thoughtful critic” (Harold Shapiro, A Larger Sense of Purpose)
As in the last 50 years, our future society is likely to undergo significant transformation driven by rapid technological advancements, a changing natural environment, shifting geopolitical dynamics and instability, and evolving social trends. In this rapidly changing world, a great city like Manchester will be defined by our dual ability to be a responsible servant and thoughtful critic of society – leveraging our intellectual capital for the greater good, while protecting the core principles of open, unencumbered research and debate.
Governments will expect a socially responsible, publicly funded, higher education sector to contribute to all aspects of regional, national and global challenges, including inclusive economic growth, national defence, better health, social inequities, climate change and responsible energy transition. Citizens will look to us as trusted institutions, using our expertise to uphold truth in an increasingly polarised society through academic freedom, free expression with the law, and promoting civil dialogue, cohesion and understanding in our communities. And students will expect opportunities to develop their values and contribution to society alongside the development of their professional skills.
This will create both opportunities and challenges for us. We will need to rethink and reshape the way we operate, what we research, how we teach and what we teach. We will need to think about what the future means for our people, how different possible futures could feel. The knowledge and skills required for this changing future will be different in many disciplines.
Three potential worlds
We would like to hear your thoughts on three possible futures for social responsibility at The University of Manchester.
World 1: Continued success
We’re already known nationally for being the first (and still the only) university to place social responsibility as a core goal. And we’re recognised around the world as one of the leading universities for impact towards key societal goals in major global rankings of success. One option, therefore, is to continue on this pathway of continuous improvement and incremental change.
What will this mean in practice?
- Continuing to make impact on society through our research, students, public engagement and operations in addressing civic and national priorities – for example through our existing themes such as social inclusion, prosperous communities, better health, environmental sustainability and cultural engagement.
- Maintain a keen focus on performing well in globally recognised measures of success such as the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking for sustainable development goals (SDG) performance and QS Sustainability Rankings for Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) impact.
- Maintain excellence in public and community engagement, for example through our Platinum Watermark and Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) measures.
What resonates with you? What is missing?
- Given we are already world-leading, is incremental change enough?
- Are we satisfied judging ourselves in terms of ranking tables?
World 2: Students as changemakers
Around 70% of our campus community are students. But, if we are to be critical of our progress in social responsibility, we have yet to find systematic ways to ensure that all Manchester students can contribute to social, economic, health or environmental challenges through their taught programmes.
What will this mean in practice?
In this world of Students as Changemakers, we do everything in world 1 plus the following:
- Building on success in a range of discrete programmes across the University, we will ensure every Manchester student is given the opportunity to make a practical contribution to society through their taught programmes.
- Contributions to society will vary from discipline to discipline: law students might give free legal advice; dental students could extend basic dental checks to marginalised communities; business and engineering students may support businesses to flourish; geography and life science students may do projects informed by the needs of local communities.
- These opportunities will dramatically enhance our engagement with communities, businesses and wider society. They will also contribute to student satisfaction, student recruitment, graduate outcomes and new research partnerships.
What resonates with you? What is missing?
- What would a guarantee for every student to make a societal contribution look like across such a diverse portfolio of programmes?
- Where do we already do this best?
- What training, systems and development needs are required to achieve this step-change?
- What would colleagues and students be seeing, feeling and doing in a scenario where this was a successful centrepiece of our strategy?
World 3: The globally connected university
AI will transform access, delivery and assessment and democratise provision of education – with many new providers – many with greater resources than a traditional university – entering the market. Additionally, as automation and AI disrupt traditional job markets, the pace of technological change will demand that workers regularly upskill or reskill, making traditional degrees less relevant or only a starting point for shorter, modular educational lifelong offerings. The higher education landscape will also become more globalised. Furthermore, geopolitical change and rise of new economic powers and heavy investment by these emerging powers will create new hubs of education and innovation in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. We will fully need to be agile and adapt to this new reality.
What will this mean in practice?
In this world of the globally connected university, we do everything in world 1 and world 2, plus the following:
- We will harness technologies like AI and improved communications to dramatically increase access to our taught programmes at home and around the world for communities that have traditionally been underserved.
- Our students will serve as changemakers right across the world, particularly through engaging with societies in the global south.
- We will supercharge our number of transformational, genuinely symbiotic research alliances with partners around the world to tackle global challenges such as climate change, cybersecurity, and public health crises.
- We will engage across boundaries to promote better understanding of different societies, democratic values, and the role of universities as both a sanctuary for free inquiry and a conduit for social progress.
What resonates with you? What is missing?
- Are we under or over-estimating the impact of AI on global education?
- Are traditional measures like REF, Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and KEF barriers to such a vision?
- What would it take to thread social responsibility more deeply into our cultural DNA, to activate more people to have much greater impact?
Conclusion
You have helped make social responsibility a defining part of our identity, reputation and world-leading performance over the past decade. Now it’s our opportunity to write the next chapter of our work in service to society.
Get involved
We need your help to advance our social responsibility in the future. Visit our Manchester 2035 web page to book onto a workshop (in person or online) and share your views through online feedback.
You can also leave a comment below – all comments will be captured within the overall feedback we are collating.
Nalin Thakkar, Vice-President for Social Responsibility
Ele Morrissey, Executive Director of People and Organisational Development
I love that Manchester’s 2035 vision includes students as changemakers. To really build socially responsible citizens, though, we need to go beyond surface-level engagement. It’s about developing real critical thinking skills — the kind that help students question assumptions, analyse issues deeply, and feel empowered to make a difference.
In my experience of developing online and distance learning courses, mainly for international students, the best way to foster this is through collaborative, open discussions where students can wrestle with complex ideas together, rather than just passively absorbing information. This dialogic approach, rooted in conversation and shared exploration, not only builds knowledge but also encourages students to see themselves as active participants in society. If Manchester aims to be a truly socially responsible university, supporting students in developing this critical consciousness would be a huge step forward. It’s about preparing them not just for careers, but to actively contribute to creating a better, more just world.
I agree all routes are important. In developing our practice, there are good opportunities to learn from academic institutions across the globe. And there are untapped opportunities locally. As we have seen in Africa, universities are well placed to build collaborative platforms with residents, professionals and city governments. Through regular discussions, issues of marginalization can be tackled. Such platforms mean that academics are accountable to residents and local neighbourhoods in their research priorities and teaching activities (and therefore more effective in their ambitions), and academics help to amplify the voices of those who are most disadvantaged and too often ignored. Manchester’s wealth of connected academics, its presence in a city with a historic record of social reformers and its commitment to social responsibility offer an unprecedented opportunity to reconceptualise the civic university. Is it ready to take on this challenge?
World 2: plan ahead.
Training people (both students and staff-as-students) to be empowered; to recognise, understand, define and take control of technology, narratives and social responsibility – will address the challenges and promote the outcomes of Worlds 1 and 3.
Important factors for all World scenarios:
a.) A future-proofed user-based curriculum with ‘service learning’:
*encourages interest and investment from industry, government and promotes charity/philanthropy.
The UoM has a current Apprenticeship scheme. Those apprentices have broad experience across multiple schools and faculties, they have insight and can mobilise the scale of the institution in terms of identification of improvements and knowledge exchange.
b.) Institutional horizontal flow (particularly for research):
*encourages conversations at all levels.
*enables working together across disciplines.
Purpose multidisciplinary solutions workshops across faculties in which attendees present problems to a wider group.
Securely identify people who know most about the problem and improve.
c.) Implementation of consistent standardisation:
*enables trust-as-design and supports inclusivity by challenging and directly aiming to eliminate bias in the interests of both empiricism and humanity.
*Is consistently user-driven by feedback and improvement.
d.) Overhaul selection and recruitment practice methods:
* Readdresses inclusivity and ‘unconscious biases’ in the interview process.
*Bring recruitment and assessment in line with the UoM’s Responsible A.I. commitment.
Exploration of and challenges to: the bias arising from automated filtering and selection of applications, to interview process, question design and structure and A.I.-based tests – through the lens of Equality Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility.
This issue of ‘coded bias’ is dominant within the administrative and digital process of the civil service and most large institutions and urgently needs to be tackled because we are missing some unusual and specific talent. That talent will be lost or exploited elsewhere.
Recommended reading: “Counter-Intelligence: What the Secret World Can Teach Us About Performance and Creativity” [2024] by Robert Hannigan
All valued and important insights and VERY important.
Two comments:
Re UG and PG students – I see the major gain being ‘amplification’ of impact once they graduate, rather than focussing (? exclusively) on what they do as students. My recent PG students from Africa and Asia have made good contributions as PG students, but much greater ones once they finished. UoM needs to track this and harness it.
With respect to clinical research (even simple surveys), the internal processes and steps to get anything done are slow and very time consuming. This is an opportunity cost for senior staff, and much of it for 100% overseas work overkill. Fear of risk drives the caution and processes. If a better balance can be struck between perceived risk and societal benefit (and indirectly UoM impact), this would accelerate overseas impact in particular.
World 4: Adaptive Resilience and Societal Rebuilding
In this world, the global economy has been destabilized by severe regional conflicts, the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe, and large-scale climate catastrophes. Europe faces ongoing waves of migration from regions impacted by warfare, resource scarcity, and climate destruction. As catastrophic floods and wildfires have devastated cities like Manchester, London, and others across Europe, the University has had to recalibrate its mission and operations to respond to profound societal upheaval.
1. Strategic Focus: Emergency Adaptation and Societal Resilience
• The University’s central mission has shifted towards survival and resilience research, with a focus on helping local and international communities adapt to climate and geopolitical instability. Efforts are centered on supporting regional disaster preparedness, resource management, and rebuilding efforts within Greater Manchester and beyond.
• Research programs focus on areas that address immediate human needs and long-term adaptation: sustainable infrastructure, food and water security, public health in disaster contexts, and mental health support for displaced populations and survivors of conflict.
• The concept of a “full-service” university has given way to a streamlined model focused on essential skills and survival-based research.
2. Research Priorities: Practical, Mission-Driven Survival Science
• Research has shifted toward practical solutions, with urgent investigations into sustainable technologies, decentralized energy, resilient urban planning, and emergency healthcare solutions. Climate impact modeling, sustainable agriculture, and humanitarian technology have become priority areas for funding.
• The University supports rapid deployment and testing of research outputs in collaboration with local councils, non-profits, and international humanitarian organizations. Research partnerships are established with organizations focused on providing critical services in crisis zones.
3. Innovation Ecosystem: Crisis Innovation and Local Resilience
• Manchester’s innovation ecosystem is now highly localized and centered on crisis response and rebuilding infrastructure. Traditional spinouts have been replaced by rapid-response initiatives and technology transfer agreements with NGOs, government bodies, and private sector collaborators that provide essential supplies, medical resources, and infrastructure.
• The University hosts crisis incubators, where researchers, students, and community members co-develop solutions for real-time challenges, such as emergency energy solutions, climate-resilient housing, and portable water purification systems.
4. Academic and Student Life: Practical, Flexible Learning Paths
• The University prioritizes flexible, adaptive learning models that equip students with skills relevant to crisis management, resourceful problem-solving, and fieldwork in humanitarian contexts. Many courses have been adapted to focus on survival skills, community health, mental health in trauma contexts, and essential engineering and medical knowledge.
• Teaching and learning are adapted to be mobile and online-ready, in case of further emergencies or infrastructure failures. Programs increasingly include immersive, community-based projects where students and faculty collaborate with local authorities and aid organizations on disaster preparedness and urban resilience efforts.
5. Community Engagement: Refugee Support and Integration
• The University has developed programs and facilities specifically for the integration and support of refugee populations. Language programs, trauma counseling, and vocational training are offered to help displaced individuals resettle and adapt to the UK, often in partnership with local governments and international aid organizations.
• The campus also serves as a hub for knowledge exchange between students, faculty, and incoming refugee experts, allowing for a rich exchange of ideas and the integration of diverse perspectives into research and education.
6. Partnerships and Global Networks: Crisis-Driven Alliances
• With global academic collaboration disrupted, the University now maintains a select network of international partners, focusing on practical alliances with institutions in similarly affected regions that share expertise in crisis science, climate resilience, and sustainable technology.
• New transnational networks have formed among institutions in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East that emphasize knowledge sharing in survival sciences, emergency medical research, and adaptive urban planning.
7. Research Culture: Resilience and Flexibility
• Research culture is defined by resilience, adaptability, and immediate relevance. Researchers are encouraged to work across disciplines to address complex, urgent problems, and the University provides psychological support and training to prepare them for working in high-stress, field-based conditions.
• Research teams focus on developing “fast fail” projects that prioritize rapid testing and field deployment, allowing for quick pivots in response to evolving needs on the ground
All three potential routes forward are positive, but option 3 for me has the most transformative potential. A key element here is the ever-evolving need to acquire and master new skill and knowledge sets – and this will certainly be more so in 2035 – to be employable and effective members of society. The University has a huge role to play in this: in shaping student expectations that their degree/other qualification is simply a starting point, for staff in that their current skill sets will need regular review and to commit to themselves to be alert for opportunities to reskill/upskill, and for both groups in recognising and taking action in the wider role they and the University have in their contribution to society.
The University is very well placed to be a resource and a connecting-point for ongoing learning – both at an individual and collective level. This could happen, for instance, in making some learning resources available to local communities, to alumni, and to international networks in the delivery of our social responsibility commitments. A.I., of course, could only add to this sharing of some resources – and trends already underway in knowledge-sharing platforms could be significantly enhanced through use of A.I. Of course there are intellectual property issues to be addressed in this debate, but within this there must be a plethora of learning resources we could contribute to our wider community more fruitfully than currently.