University of Manchester festival to set the agenda for sustainability research

A festival of ideas at The University of Manchester’s Sustainable Consumption Institute is set to lay down a marker for sustainability research in the next decade.

A free event on Thursday 5 December will draw together findings from the Institute’s research over the past 10 years, and launch their new agenda for the coming decade. The event will be open to policy makers, business leaders, researchers and activists, as well as the general public.

It will feature guest speakers from all aspects of the sustainable consumption conversation. In addition to academics, speakers will include Corin Bell, the Founder and Director of the social enterprise Open Kitchen MCR which takes food that would otherwise go to waste and uses it to cater at conferences and events. Corin is also the Lead for the Plastic Free Greater Manchester Campaign for Mayor Andy Burnham and Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Also speaking are Nissa Shahid, an urban planner at the London-based Future Cities Catapult, and Martine Postma, a Dutch environmentalist and former journalist who pioneered the concept of Repair Cafés, where people come together to learn how to repair the objects they would otherwise throw away.

The event will take place in the new lecture theatre of the Alliance Manchester Business School, and the programme will offer several opportunities to discuss ideas as well as to network with fellow attendees.

The aforementioned Open Kitchen MCR will cater the event, and attendees will have a chance to sample products from sustainable local businesses including Beer Nouveau, Stitched Up (upcycled products) and Sodada (kombucha), as well as having the chance to win organic and locally-source vegetables from Veg Box People.