The University of Manchester (UoM) has been named the world's number one university in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings, released on Wednesday, 21 April. The University topped the table of more than 1,200 universities from around the world on action taken towards the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As the UK’s only university to have social responsibility (SR) as a core goal, Manchester plays a leading role in tackling the SDGs in four ways: research impact, learning and students, public engagement activity and responsible campus operations.

We are unique in British higher education in having social responsibility as one of our three core strategic goals in Our future: The University of Manchester’s vision and strategic plan, sitting equally alongside our commitments to research and discovery and teaching and learning.

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell President Vice-Chancellor, UoM

We're absolutely delighted to top the world in the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings in 2021, but more importantly we’re pleased to be part of a growing community of universities committed to measuring and sharing their societal impact.

Dr. Winnie Byanyima UoM Alumna UN Under-Secretary General Executive Director of UNAIDS

I will always be proud to be part of The University of Manchester family and its alumni community. This deserved recognition for its enormous social, environmental and economic impact is even more reason for everyone associated with the institution to be immensely pleased.

University of Manchester ranks world's first in Impact Rankings

Since China Centre’s establishment in 2008, we strive to motivate students and alumni to be socially responsible through our rich SR agenda that inherits our unique Manchester spirit, such as organizing annual SR forum and dedicating one month each year to SR. We would like to support key citizens and leaders of tomorrow who represent the widest range of social backgrounds and develop not only academic and professional skills, but also a sense of ethical, social and environmental responsibility towards the societies they will serve.

April 2021 sees China Centre’s fifth annual SR month. Based on UoM’s SR goals working towards “environmental sustainability”, “better health”, “cultural engagement”, “public engagement”, “socially responsible graduates”, we designed our activities in formats of visits to alumni companies, panels, team-building outing, museum tour on subjects of “sustainability in business”, “employee wellbeing”, “people-to-people diplomatic cultural impact”, “open lectures”, and “understanding socially responsible generation Z”.

On April 8^th, an alumni delegation led by China Centre Director Sherry Fu visited alumni company Good group, sharing good examples for business with organic, inexpensive and quick adaptation into an environmentally friendly market while achieving great social and environmental impact. Alumni brought their experience and thoughts on sustainability such as how to balance and drive profit with CSR.

On April 9^th, China Centre’s staff team enjoyed team-building taking 3-course cooking class at two of UoM students’ restaurant. Dressed in Manchester purple jackets hand-made by local charity Home Sweet Home, staffs were able to learn cooking tips from our GMBA students who are also Le Cordon Bleu graduates.

April 17^th-18^th witnessed the inauguration ceremony of Magnificent Culture (Mculture): The University of Manchester China Centre Arts & Culture Study Programme where the public is invited to engage in a series of immersive activities to learn about culture.

Cultural engagement as a key driver of social development and cultural exchange

On April 21^st, two open lectures were held at China Centre, attracting around 100 participants in the region to attend and learn about the hot topic of “carbon neutrality” with speaker from Fudan University, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai Overseas Returned Scholars Association UK chapter and finance chapter and etc.

On April 28^th, our alumni delegation will visit alumni company Bilibili to interpret generation Z which is estimated at around 2.6 billion people and understand their sense of social responsibility.