How can we protect our communities and natural habitats?
Extreme weather is affecting every continent, the seas and atmosphere are warming at unprecedented rates, and some of the consequences are irrevocable.
At The University of Manchester, our experts are at the forefront of change, developing the solutions to help protect the communities and natural habitats most vulnerable to climate change.
By working worldwide, we pioneer ways to build physical and social resilience, with projects that address:
- protecting and restoring ecosystems;
- understanding changing risks from climate impacts for infrastructure and people;
- building defences, warning systems and resilient infrastructure;
- food security and sustainable agriculture;
- health and wellbeing.
We're driving action to address the loss and damage caused by the changing climate.
Real-world solutions
Discover some of the ways we are helping build resilience.
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Reducing waste at festivals
Every year millions of festivalgoers across the globe gather to enjoy live music. But once the party is over, they often leave a large ecological footprint behind. Seeking a greener way forward, researchers at The University of Manchester helped Glastonbury Festival reduce waste via education and behavioural change initiatives.
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Energy poverty
How can we highlight the growing issue of energy poverty in the private rented sector and offer solutions to help address it for those affected? The University of Manchester's development of the Energy Poverty Dashboard is bringing to light essential data that will help inform future energy policies across Europe.
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Social justice
How can we make climate adaptation more socially just? Decisions on how to adapt to the impact of extreme weather events caused by climate change, such as flooding and heat waves, often rely on understanding only physical factors. Research from The University of Manchester has highlighted how we can support socially-vulnerable and climate-disadvantaged communities.
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Nature restoration
Manchester experts are helping to build and maintain strong community and stakeholder engagement in restoring post-industrial landscapes. It has been shown that the more communities engage in local landscapes and wildlife, the more they will contribute to transformation projects that tackle climate change.
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Restoring Peatlands
The upland peatlands of the UK have been severely eroded because of industrial pollution, overgrazing, drainage and other human actions. The University of Manchester's research is helping to understand how they can be restored to assist the fight against climate change.
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Water scarcity
How can we reduce demand in a water-scarce future? Research from The University of Manchester is helping the UK government and the water sector create new approaches to help us adapt.
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Flood risk
How can we protect UK rural communities at risk of flooding? As global temperatures rise, extreme rainfall and flash flooding are set to increase, putting more homes and livelihoods at risk. With rural communities near steep upland streams and rivers particularly vulnerable, research at The University of Manchester is demonstrating that landscape restoration offers a low-cost way to reduce flood risk.
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Current projects
Explore some of the pioneering projects our researchers are working on:
- Ecosystem restoration – developing innovative approaches to restoring degraded ecosystems.
- Woodland restoration – helping trees and woodlands adapt to climate change and enable the UK to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
- Restoration in urban areas – an interdisciplinary approach to driving restoration in cities.
- Upland peatland restoration – a low-cost solution to reducing flood risk in vulnerable communities.
- Preparing and protecting against the impacts of climate change – a new £5 million research programme to drive forward the UK's response.
- Towards inclusive environmental sustainability – how practices of immigrants from the Global South can contribute to building just and sustainable future.
- Creative Climate Resilience – an interdisciplinary arts-led project identifying barriers and solutions to climate strategies.
- Digital platforms and the future of urban mobility – a project exploring how digital platforms are changing patterns of mobility in cities.
- African Cities Research Consortium – a collaborative approach to tackling complex problems in the continent's rapidly changing cities.
- Creating a UK fire danger rating system – to reduce wildfire risk.
- Sounding the Siren – a collaboration between Manchester’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, UK-MED and Save the Children to help prepare the aid system for the climate emergency.
- How caring for the hills can protect us from flooding.
- Exploring the importance of healthy soils in sustainable land management – and their role in responding to climate change.
- Toward a "Green Recovery" in Food Provision – influencing policy in Manchester.
Our expertise
We're at the forefront of the search for solutions to the climate crisis, seeking to be a global force for positive change.
Our Sustainable Futures platform draws together the unique breadth and depth of our interdisciplinary research, and our special focus on advanced materials, biotechnology, cancer, energy and global inequalities allows us to tackle some of the biggest challenges with a discipline-focused lens.
Find out about the programmes and people behind our research.
The scale of our interdisciplinary research activity sets us apart. Discover our world-leading research institutes and centres working on ways to build resilience:
We're at the forefront of the search for solutions. Use our researcher tool to learn more about the people pushing our research forward:
Useful reads
We bring thought leadership and influence to the policy debate.
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