Partnerships for the Goals

In 2023, Manchester Metropolitan University Business School joined the Global Business School Network (GBSN), a network of the world’s leading business schools working on improving access to management education for the developing world. GBSN is comprised of only 140 top business schools across the world, which implements impactful projects and programmes and develops thought leadership. Joining the network will help the Business School deliver its strategy, providing a transformative education experience for students while using in-depth knowledge and ground-breaking research to develop practical solutions to real-world problems.

Also in 2023, Manchester Met Business School successfully secured the coveted EQUIS accreditation, joining a select group of only 209 business schools worldwide who hold the prestigious ‘Triple Crown’ of AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS. Within the EQUIS submission, the cross-cutting theme of Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability (ERS) means that the School now takes a more strategically integrated approach to sustainability and outputs on SDGs.

In the Faculty of Business and Law, our mission is to transform lives, businesses and communities through world-class education and research. We have been a signatory to The Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) since 2012, participating in a community of 800 universities worldwide, the largest organised relationship between the United Nations and management elated higher education institutions. Please find our most recent (2022) report here. 

The Academy of Business in Society (ABIS) is a global network of over 100 companies and academic institutions whose expertise, commitment and resources are leveraged to invest in a more sustainable future for business in society. The Network’s mission is to advance the role of business in society through research and education and to make a significant contribution to debate and the practice involved in equipping current and future business leaders with the knowledge, skills and capabilities for the long-term success of business in society. Manchester Met Business School have proactive members of ABIS since 2017 learning from and contributing to a range of initiatives, events and publications.

We were one of the first higher education providers to become an NUS Responsible Futures Accredited institution– reflecting our commitment to embedding environmental sustainability, social responsibility and education around the SDGs in both our formal and informal curriculum across the university. Through our continued collaboration with the Union, we have been accredited since 2015.

We collaborate to develop international best practice on tackling the SDGs, creating the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme with over 170 members, who share information on best practice on implementing the SDGs.

Professor Walter Leal is leading the production of the Encyclopaedia of the UN SDGS with one volume devoted to each SDG, and over 2,000 authors from different sectors across all continents to promote cross-sectoral dialogue. Find out more about his latest European report (2023) here.

We are a founding member of the European School of Sustainability Science and Research (ESSSR), leading on PhD training in Sustainability Science through Manchester Met’s PhD by published works route to develop best practice in tackling the SDGs. In the frame of ESSSR Manchester Metropolitan University collaborates with the following international partners to tackle the SDGs: United Nations Development Programme, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Man and Biosphere Programme, UN Environment Programme.

Manchester Met has input into national SDG policy and strategy as a partner of the BioPlastics Europe 2019-2023 project to develop direct links between practice and policy in the area of sustainable and circular bioeconomy: ‘Sustainable bio-based plastics for circular economy: transferring knowledge into practice through technical, policy and business model innovation’. The project includes 22 partners and helps to develop direct links between practice and policy in sustainable and circular bioeconomy, which is a major European policy priority and key to advancing towards the implementation of the SDGs.

Manchester Met has contributed to the National Recovery Plan for the Mountain Bongo in Kenya (2019 – 2023). University researchers had direct involvement in developing the National Recovery and Action Plan for the Mountain Bongo: Appendix 4: Identification, Monitoring, Body Scoring of Bongos.

Professor Julie Marshall is Chair and founder member of Communication Therapy International, whose mission is to support professionals, including speech and language therapists from high income countries, to maximize the impact of their work with people with communication disability in low and middle income countries. The aim of the community of practice is to support the development of equitable global services for people with communication and swallowing disabilities.