MetroPolis Matters (September 2023)

Dear Colleague

We hope you're settling well into the new academic year.

With the theme of new beginnings, we have some exciting MetroPolis news. The fantastic Dr Katy Jones will be joining the MetroPolis management team, becoming MetroPolis' academic co-lead alongside Professor Chris Fox.

Katy is a Reader in Employment in Manchester Met’s Business School, and has undertaken highly impactful work on youth unemployment, homelessness,
welfare conditionality and skills. You can read about her impressive policy work in this month's spotlight. Needless to say, we will really value her expertise, experience, and enthusiasm! 

We also wanted to remind you of our upcoming party conference fringe events with leading UK urban policy think tank, Centre for Cities. Our expert panellists will be exploring the future of UK high streets, including current challenges and success stories. 

Conservative Party Conference: The Future for our High Streets

3rd October, 8.30am-9.30am, Friend's Meeting House, Manchester

Panellists:

• Dr Lucy Montague (Manchester Metropolitan University)
• John Stevenson MP (Chair, Key Cities APPG and Northern Research Group)
• Matt Colledge (Executive Director, High Streets Taskforce)
• Cllr Abi Brown (Deputy Chairman LGA Board and Chairman, LGA Stoke on Trent Council)

Labour Party Conference: The Future for our High Streets

10th October, 8.30am-9.30am, Clore Studio, Tate Liverpool

Panellists:

• Dr Lucy Montague (Manchester Metropolitan University)
• James Murray MP (Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury) 
• Professor Steve Millington (Director, Institute of Place Management)
• Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Leader, City of Bradford Council)

These events will take place outside the secure zone, and do not require a Conference pass. Let us know if you'll be attending- we'd love to meet you there!

Best wishes,

Abby

Latest News

Listen to the new series of MetroPolis-supported Drug Policy Voices podcast

Read about Dr Rebecca Askew's innovative research and podcast series, which are improving participation and representation in drug policy.

Look back at the launch event for the GMCA-commissioned GMTRENDS reports

See photographs from the successful launch event for the latest GMTRENDS reports. Over 60 delegates attended the event, which featured a speech from Manchester's Deputy Mayor Kate Green.

Learning from Good Employment agendas 

Manchester Met recently hosted a major good employment conference, organised by Dr Sarah Crozier. Find out about the research and ideas shared on the day.

Read our latest blog

Party conference season is upon us. To mark the occasion, we’ve asked friends of MetroPolis to predict the five main talking points of this year’s Conservative and Labour party conferences. No mean feat in a chaotic year.

In our latest blogpost, Professor Steve Millington makes his predictions of the five issues dominating the secure zones.

Upcoming Events

The Future for our High Streets - Conservative Party Conference 

Tuesday 3rd October, 8.30am-9.30am

The Future for our High Streets - Labour Party Conference

Tuesday 10th October, 8.30am-9.30am

The Social Distance Between Us: Why we need to talk about class

Wednesday 15th November, 2pm-4.30pm

Join us for an exciting free event exploring social class, featuring Orwell Prize-winning author Darren McGarvey and a panel discussion.

Our Support

We offer a number of routes for enhancing the policy impact of your research. You can apply for support through the links below. To find out which is the most suitable for your work, or for more tailored support, please reach out to the MetroPolis team.

• The Chancellor’s Fellowship: Our prestigious MetroPolis Chancellor's Fellowship scheme offers high-quality researchers from Manchester Met placements with policy organisations including government departments, charities and think tanks.
• Rapid Funding Scheme: A quick turnaround funding scheme for a range of activities to enhance the policy impact of research including events, travel, networking and (non academic) publications.
• 1-1 Policy Coaching: A one-to-one service for support with your pathways to policy impact delivered by Showrunner Communications, who are experts in public policy.

Spotlight on...

We are thrilled to welcome Dr Katy Jones as academic co-lead for MetroPolis. Katy is Reader in Employment in Manchester Met’s Business School, and she has undertaken a range of policy focused work, including:

• Leading the first major independent research project focused on employer perspectives and experiences of Universal Credit and related employment policies, funded through a prestigious ESRC New Investigator Grant award.
• Giving written and oral evidence to multiple parliamentary inquiries including the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee’s Plan for Jobs Inquiry and the House of Lords Economic and Social Affairs Committee’s inquiries on the Economics of Universal Credit and Covid Employment Support
• Working with the Department for Work and Pensions to co-host an Areas of Interest event to showcase the research of academics from Manchester Met and other Greater Manchester-based HEIs.

On joining the MetroPolis management team, Katy commented:

"I am delighted to join the Metropolis management team, to play a greater role in supporting our excellent researchers to connect with policymakers and amplify the impactful work that they do."

To find out more about Katie's work, contact: katy.jones@mmu.ac.uk.

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