United Nations sustainability agenda to advance with University expertise
The United Nations is set to harness Manchester Metropolitan University’s excellence in Education for Sustainable Development to advance its global development goals.
The University has been appointed as the new United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Hub Vice-Chair for SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production.
Manchester Met will play an essential role in advancing the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by leading teaching and education initiatives for the UNAI SDG 12 Hub from September 2025 to December 2027.
The Hub is part of the larger UNAI network, which includes more than 1,700 universities and colleges across more than 150 countries.
Liz Price MBE, Professor of Environmental Education and Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor Sustainability at Manchester Met, said: “This important appointment is in alignment with the University’s longstanding commitment to progress sustainable development with universities around the world.
“This will build on our existing work with UNAI which sees us working with a network of institutions worldwide to promote global priorities including peace, human rights and sustainable development.
“Sustainability is core to all that we do, and this is an exciting new chapter in our journey to become a beacon of sustainable development practice by 2030.”
UNAI SDG Hub Network
UNAI is an initiative that aligns higher education institutions with the United Nations in supporting and contributing to the realisation of United Nations goals and mandates.
UNAI SDG Hubs are a part of this network that actively work to promote the SDGs by leveraging the power of academia to create positive social, economic, and environmental change.
Each Hub is designated to focus on a specific SDG, fostering research, education, and global collaboration to advance that goal, while respecting the strong interdependencies across all 17 SDGs.
Manchester Met is home to outstanding researchers with international reputations who are working towards the guiding principles of UNAI and the UN’s SDGs.
The University has been rated as a top five sustainable university for more than a decade in the People and Planet University League and is currently in the global top 8% of the Times Higher Education’s Impact Rankings.
