Greater Manchester Students unite for second Green Careers Mission

Students from across Greater Manchester once again came together to take on the region’s most pressing environmental challenges at this year’s Green Careers Mission – a collaborative event where learning meets action, empowering students to design innovative, practical solutions to real-world environmental problems.

Hosted at the University of Manchester, the 2025 Green Careers Mission built on the success of last year’s inaugural event, bringing together students from multiple disciplines and institutions to address environmental challenges set by Greater Manchester employers.

Each challenge was aligned with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA) Five-Year Environment Plan and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, giving students the unique opportunity to contribute to the GMCA’s vision for a fairer, greener and more resilient future.

Teams explored topics including retrofitting homes, community resilience, and sustainable production and consumption, supported by industry partners including One Manchester, GMCA, Manchester City Council, Urban 360, and Q Sustain Ltd. Students were tasked with designing creative and actionable responses to these real-world briefs, applying their academic learning to sustainability issues that directly affect local communities.

The Green Careers Mission reflects the collective ambition of Greater Manchester’s universities – the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Salford, the Royal Northern College of Music, and the University of Greater Manchester – to build a greener, fairer future for the region. Together with GMCA and local employers, our universities are helping equip students with the skills, experience, and confidence to lead in the rapidly evolving green economy.

Professor Jennifer O’Brien, Academic Lead for Sustainability Teaching and Learning at the University of Manchester, said:

“Green Careers Mission illustrates the transformative power of bringing together research, teaching and innovation to address cross sector needs. In our turbulent world, it gives me hope.  Huge thanks to all our partners and incredible students for leaning into the mission - and the potential”

Master’s student Alice Warrington, who studies Climate Change: Science, Society and Solutions at the University of Manchester, said:

“The entire day was characterised by the power of coming together to tackle some of the world’s most complex problems and come up with diverse and dynamic solutions... It was a wonderful day full of fantastic ideas and collaboration.”

As Greater Manchester continues to lead on green innovation and sustainability, the Green Careers Mission stands as a model of how collaboration between universities, employers, and civic partners can turn education into action – preparing students not only for green careers, but for meaningful roles in shaping Greater Manchester’s sustainable future.