[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”off” specialty=”on” _builder_version=”3.17.6″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ specialty_columns=”4″][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”2_3″][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=”3.17.6″ featured_placement=”above” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n
To tackle the greatest crisis of our lifetime \u2013 climate change \u2013 our University is undertaking agenda-setting work to help ensure a sustainable planet. We are driven by our commitment to social responsibility, one of our three core strategic goals, and we are dedicated to using the full range of our knowledge and influence for the benefit of society.<\/p>\n
Ranked number one in the world for societal impact<\/a> (THE University Impact Rankings, 2021), we\u2019re delivering innovative solutions to the climate crisis through our research, teaching, operations and external engagement.<\/p>\n Our community of 600+ energy and climate change researchers have influenced how the United Nations addresses greenhouse gas emissions, helped local authorities reduce carbon emissions and transformed sustainable city transport. Four of our five research beacons of interdisciplinary and world leading research excellence \u2013 advanced materials, biotechnology, energy and global inequalities<\/a> \u2013 are directly engaged in finding solutions to the greatest climate questions.<\/p>\n Our collective expertise is assembled in our Sustainable Futures platform<\/a> which encompasses the breadth of our interdisciplinary research, spanning the social science, arts and STEM sciences, addressing different aspects of the climate crisis and sparking new ideas and solutions. By collaborating with governments, businesses and communities, and creating partnerships to shape responses, our researchers develop end-to-end solutions that tackle the challenge from every angle.<\/p>\n Through our teaching we\u2019re nurturing the next generation of change-makers, empowering our students \u2013 a 40,000-strong force for positive social change \u2013 through initiatives such as The Sustainability Challenge<\/a> and Creating a Sustainable World<\/a> course. By embedding sustainability into our teaching and postgraduate research, we equip students with the skills to improve lives for future generations.<\/p>\n Finally, as a University community, we inspire through example. Our 50,000 Actions programme<\/a> is the largest environmental sustainability initiative in the higher education sector; we have set ourselves the target of being zero carbon by 2038<\/a>; and will have eliminated all avoidable single-use plastic<\/a> in our catering, stationery and labs by 2022. Through our Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework<\/a> we\u2019ve already generated a reduction of more than 26,000 plastic items per year, underpinning sustainable practices into our teaching and research.<\/p>\n This November, a delegation of nine University of Manchester researchers<\/a> will attend the UK-hosted COP26 to observe the negotiations that will be fundamental to securing the future of our planet. They will engage with attending governments, businesses and civil bodies by sharing their academic insight to inform and influence decisive action. What they learn from the COP26 negotiations will inform their research, ensuring Manchester continues to play a leading role in the development of real-world solutions.<\/p>\n Attendance at COP26 is just one example of how we\u2019re catalysing climate action.\u00a0 We\u2019re continually finding new means to deliver environmental sustainability. This week alone, we\u2019ve shared the innovative ways we\u2019ve tackled the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development goals<\/a> over the last 12 months, and used the Manchester Festival of Climate Action<\/a> to bring policy, industry and academia together to drive action. Our commitment will be further brought to life through the Sustainable Future<\/a>s launch on 20 October and our Climate Questions communications campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2021 could be a turning point for climate change. The climate crisis is the number one issue facing humanity; what we do now will profoundly affect the next few thousand years.<\/p>\n At Manchester our mission is to be recognised globally \u2018for the benefits we bring to society and the environment\u2019<\/a>. Ranked among the world-leading research universities<\/a>, we\u2019re committed to using our research, teaching, and our track record of innovation and civic engagement to help drive the change needed.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=”3.17.6″ prev_text=”Previous” next_text=”Next” in_same_term=”off” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”3.17.6″ custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#ffffff” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Related posts” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ locked=”on”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=”Subscribe” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ area=”et_pb_widget_area_3″ locked=”on” \/][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=”3.17.6″ area=”sidebar-1″ show_border=”off” locked=”on” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To tackle the greatest crisis of our lifetime \u2013 climate change \u2013 our University is undertaking agenda-setting work to help ensure a sustainable planet. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":3577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"[et_pb_section bb_built=\"1\" fullwidth=\"off\" specialty=\"on\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\"][et_pb_column type=\"2_3\" specialty_columns=\"4\"][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=\"Row\"][et_pb_column_inner type=\"4_4\" saved_specialty_column_type=\"2_3\"][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" featured_placement=\"above\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=\"3.17.6\"]\r\n\r\n When I\u2019m out and about meeting staff I hear much debate about the why, what, when and how of change in our University. I wanted to share my thoughts on this often contentious topic \u2013 and hear your views too.<\/p> Early in 2020 we will launch our University\u2019s new vision and strategic plan \u2013 Our future. In order to fulfil Our future we need to ensure that we are in a financially sustainable position so that we have the funds to invest in the new staff, facilities and infrastructure which will be needed to bring our plans to life.<\/p> Our Financial Statements<\/a> for 2018\/19, which have been published following approval by the Board of Governors, confirm that more than 95% of our \u00a31.1bn income is spent on our core goals - on our staff and our students - to deliver research, education and social responsibility; with the remainder invested in the long term sustainability of our University. You can find a summary<\/a> of the Financial Statements on StaffNet.<\/p> However, this is a testing time for UK universities, due to the many external factors that have an impact on us - current home tuition fees are falling in real terms, whilst our costs (not just pay but non-pay too) are increasing. There are further and even greater tuition fee funding risks outlined in General Election manifestos as well as a range of Brexit-related risks that could affect our operations. The Office for Students (OfS) demands that we demonstrate both value for money for our students and our financial sustainability (in the sense of being able to invest to deliver our ambitious strategy, rather than survival). There are, of course, also ongoing unresolved national issues around pay and the continuing challenges around funding pensions in the higher education sector.<\/p> Our Financial Statements show an improved operating surplus (3.7% of income compared to \u00a324.7m (2.3%) in 2017\/18), with a rise in income from tuition fees, education contracts and research. As I mentioned earlier, we re-invest the surplus we achieve each year in activity in line with our strategy. Recently our funds have been used to create some new academic and Professional Services posts; to invest in key infrastructure including IT; to invest in some new buildings like our student accommodation at Unsworth Park; to improve the student experience by funding more full-time Residential Life staff and to upgrade a range of buildings and research and teaching spaces and resources. Increasingly it is also invested in environmental sustainability and meeting our ambitious carbon targets. So even when we are making difficult decisions in some parts of the University we continue to invest our surplus.<\/p> Whilst we have reported an operating surplus, our Board of Governors expects us to deliver a much larger surplus than this (at least 5%) if we are to be sustainable in the long-term. Our strategic change programme (including IT Modernisation<\/a>, the Student Experience Programme<\/a>, and the Research Lifecycle Programme<\/a>), alongside our continuous improvement plans, will ensure that we create the financial headroom to invest in people and facilities. The strategic change programme will also enable us to embrace new technologies and new ways of doing things that better support all our staff and students to be the best that they can be.<\/p> Yes, this means that some individual roles will change. New roles (some that we haven\u2019t yet identified) will be created and some roles will no longer be required. I appreciate that this will cause some uncertainty and where that is the case we will do everything we can to support staff, but the alternative is that we never change anything. If we fail to take advantage of advances in technology and develop more joined-up ways of working we will ultimately find ourselves outdated in the eyes of future students, funders and other stakeholders. Staff want to work for a progressive and successful institution, of which they can be proud. This means we cannot stand still.<\/p> When I talk to staff and students I often hear their frustrations about how difficult it be can be to get some straightforward things done, grappling with paper-based, manual and repetitive processes, on outdated systems and infrastructure, all of which serves to increase staff workloads. Everyone wants to do a good job, but regularly feel that our world-class status is earned in spite of our internal systems and processes, not because of them.<\/p> To deliver our new vision and strategic plan we will need to embrace new opportunities and face challenges with courage and determination. That will sometimes mean we have to make tough decisions and no-one is claiming it will be easy or that mistakes will not be made along the way. But where we do have tough choices to make we will commit to implementing changes fairly and with compassion to support the wellbeing of all our colleagues.<\/p>\r\n\r\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" prev_text=\"Previous\" next_text=\"Next\" in_same_term=\"off\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" custom_button=\"on\" button_text_color=\"#ffffff\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_text admin_label=\"Related posts\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" locked=\"on\"]\r\n\r\n [related-posts-thumbnails]<\/p>\r\n\r\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\"1_3\"][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=\"Subscribe\" _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" area=\"et_pb_widget_area_3\" locked=\"on\" \/][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=\"3.17.6\" area=\"sidebar-1\" show_border=\"off\" locked=\"on\" \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section]","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-slt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3542"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3578,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3542\/revisions\/3578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/viewpoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Related<\/h1>\n
Related posts:<\/h3>
Patrick Hackett: A very different start to our academic year<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
Colette Fagan and Angus Hearmon: Investing in research support at our University<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
Professor Nalin Thakkar: Making the leap: The University to Partner With\u00a0<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>
Improving our financial performance will help to deliver our ambitious future plans, but we must also increase our capacity to create the funds and time to invest in our core goals. One of the ways we can do this is by changing what we do and how we do things.<\/p>Related<\/h1>\r\n