Excellence
The School of Environment and Development (SED) was created in 2004 as part of the new University of Manchester, combining the Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM) with the disciplines of Architecture, Geography, and Planning (see History of the School).
SED is a school of substantial size and diversity with over 80 academic staff and a student population of 1300, of which 500 are postgraduates, and offering 9 undergraduate programmes (BA & BSc), 27 Masters programmes (MA & MSc) and four doctoral programmes. Teaching is underpinned by excellent resources and support staff including three discipline based libraries, four analytical laboratories, studio facilities, workshops and several computer clusters including GIS facilities.
- SED occupies a distinctive niche giving it special visibility within the study of society-economy-environment interactions. The sheer size of the School brings together more researchers in the area than at most other institutions.
- SED is relevant due to its capacity to move between academic rigour and applied approaches giving its activities great contemporary significance for decision makers in government, NGO and multilateral spheres.
- Our research and scholarship is truly global and addresses regional, national and international scales of analysis.
- The School exploits its location in Manchester and the North-West to study the legacies of the region’s industrial heritage, of the environmental, social and economic challenges they present, and of the re-development of Manchester as a global example of post-industrial regeneration.
Key Strengths: Our Work
- Addresses problems of poverty and inequality world wide
- Leads to more sustainable use of environment
- Influences policy formulation and delivery
- Contributes to the development of North West UK
- Provides a research rich stimulating learning environment
- Attracts world class academic staff.
Areas of demonstrable world leading research are:
- Poverty (as evidenced through the formation of the Brooks World Poverty Institute)
Areas of demonstrable world-class research are:
- Development economics
- Urban sustainability
- Political Ecology/ Environmental Governance
- Environmental Change
- International Development
In the last 2 years the School has:
- Secured funding from the University for investment posts in Brooks World Poverty Institute, Sustainable Cities , Political Ecology, Environmental Modelling, International Planning, Environment and Development, and Geoinformatics.
- Established a new, interdisciplinary Architecture research centre, MARC
- Secured just under £1.0 million worth of external fellowships and three major internal fellowships covering the salary of three post doctoral posts and providing research expenses
- Secured £8.0 million worth of research awards
Locations of Disciplines/Centres
The School hosts a number of elite, externally funded research centres.
The UK Department for International Development (DFID) funds the Centre for Regulation and Competition (CRC) and the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC). The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funds the Global Poverty Research Group (GPRG), and the European Union supports the Impact Assessment Research Centre (IARC). In addition, the Environmental Impact Assessment Centre (EIA) networks across the School, and collaborative research ventures include the Centre for Urban Policy Studies (CUPS) and the Centre for Urban Regional Ecology (CURE).
The University of Manchester has a long-standing tradition of research into social and economic development. To build on this tradition, the University created in 2006 the Brooks World Poverty Institute, a new multidisciplinary centre of excellence researching poverty, poverty reduction, inequality and growth. The Strategy Board of BWPI is chaired by Nobel Laureate Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz, who has joined the University on a part-time basis. The Rory and Elizabeth Brooks Foundation has generously agreed to support the BWPI with a gift of £1.3M over three years which will be augmented by funding from the University of Manchester and external grants to generate a planned investment of £5 million over the first five years.