Manchester Metropolitan University

Why we've signed the Manifesto

"I think that signing the Manifesto for Public Engagement matters because maximising economic and social benefits is central to what we think we are here to do as a university. We are convinced that viewing ourselves as a place-based and situated university, partnering on an equal basis with the communities in which we sit to mutual benefit, is a key driver of success. We believe that universities matter, that they can profoundly change the world for the better and that enabling the beneficial impact of our activities is a fundamental responsibility that we owe to society at large."

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Planning), Professor Gerry Kelleher

Our approach to public engagement

MMU is a “situated” university with a strong sense of civic and social purpose derived from the origins of the institution in the nineteenth century as a teaching college for the local textile industry. The way in which we have developed over that 120-year period has meant that our teaching and research has been informed and shaped by a constant and sustained interaction with our local context. As a consequence our academic expertise is in tandem with the specific needs and challenges of the City of Manchester and its communities. MMU’s status as a “Beacon for Public Engagement” in partnership with the University of Manchester, Salford University and the Museum of Science and Industry has supported our efforts to create more and more examples of genuine two-way public engagement with local communities.

The launch of Manchester Metropolitan University’s public engagement strategy in 2008 coincided with the creation of a highly regarded public engagement fellowship scheme that opened out the selection of fellows to an online public vote in which over 2,500 local people participated.

MMU's public engagement activity

• Moving Memories projest
• A textile project for World Aids Day
• Inspiring Leaders course for local community leaders
• Comixed: deliberative public engagement with social media at the Manchester Science Festival
• Work at Hulme Community Garden Centre

Other high-profile MMU public engagement initiatives include the Manchester Children’s Book Festival led by Poet Laureate and MMU Professor, Carol Ann-Duffy; and the ongoing engagement agenda around the development of MMU’s new community campus at Birley Fields in Hulme.

You can find out more at MMU’s Community website here: www.mmu.ac.uk/community

The Manchester Beacon for Public Engagement website is here.

Download the MMU Engaged publication which includes case studies and information on the social, cultural, community and environmental benefits of MMU to society: MMU Wider benefits

Contact:

Name: Sam Gray

Title: Research and Enterprise Development Manager

Tel: 0161 247 1664

Email: s.gray@mmu.ac.uk