Learning to make a difference by shaping policies across the North

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The Management School is proud to be sponsoring the Northern Policy Forum for its upcoming event.

Founded in 2018, the Northern Policy Forum is a pan-northern, non-partisan network for young people (18-35 years old). It aims to bring together different young voices across the North of England who are interested in the decisions that shape the places we live in.  The forum is also hoping to become a vibrant hub for existing organisations and individuals, to help them come together, exchange ideas and galvanise change.

The £1,000 grant, provided by the Management School, will be used to organise the “What makes a place?”  event taking place in Manchester on April 25.  Speakers at the event include Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan, Nicola Headlam, Head of the Northern Powerhouse (UK Government), and Kirsty Devlin, Programme Director at Recode. 

As a university at the “forefront of influential knowledge leadership”, the University of Liverpool strives to connect with people who have great ideas and want to make a difference in society. Being a ‘civic university’ not only means producing policy-influencing research but actively shaping policy-influencing citizens. To achieve this, the Management School actively supports students to go beyond the classroom and help them connect with businesses, civic society associations and government in Liverpool, the North and beyond. Policy engagements and networking opportunities are a great way to build and foster partnerships between students and policy makers so that they may make a real difference to society.

Julia Zielke, final year PhD student at the Management School and co-ordinator of Northern Policy Forum, said “I’ve been involved as a co-ordinator with the Northern Policy Forum for over a year now. It is great to see young people across the North come together to discuss the policies that matter to them. The policy landscape really needed a younger counter-weight to London-centric debates and I am excited to be part of this. Perfect timing really, because I feel that the experience I gained during my PhD on community wellbeing might actually make a small difference!”

More information about the “What makes a place” forum event, including how to register, can be found online.