This case crystallises certain broader trends in group prosecutions, with a recent report from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies on joint enterprise laws in England and Wales (‘’, 2022) finding that young men of colour continue to be disproportionately swept into large group convictions.

Professor of Public History, David Olusoga OBE, will chair a panel discussion with expert speakers, including , Chancellor Nazir Afzal (The University of Manchester), founder of Kids of Colour, , and Jan Cunliffe, Director of . They will reflect on the effects of conspiracy and joint enterprise laws in racializing and criminalizing particular communities and cultures, and on how these laws increasingly raise questions about fairness and justice as they relate to the prosecution of young Black and Asian men.

Everyone is welcome to attend the event, either in person, or via live-stream. If you’re interested in attending this topical discussion, please register via .

This event has been organised by the Creative 91ֱ��, presented in partnership with the Global Inequalities research beacon at The University of Manchester.

On 10 October, David will host a lecture exploring what it means to be Black and British and the role of Black History today. With his recent book, , being published for children to better understand the relationship between Britain and Empire, this event would be particularly insightful for those in school years 7-11 and anyone older.

If you would like to attend this FREE event, please register via .

The event is hybrid, and will be live-streamed and recorded. 

The newly appointed Creative 91ֱ�� Research Leads will support and grow strong multidisciplinary communities around each key theme, and provide strategic direction to each area.

The research leads will work closely with Creative 91ֱ�� Director, Professor John McAuliffe, who said of their appointment, “I am delighted to welcome Claudia, Stephen, and Jenna to the Creative 91ֱ�� team. They bring with them a huge amount of knowledge and expertise, and I am looking forward to working closely with each of them across the three Creative 91ֱ�� research themes.”

The new research leads took up their appointment on 1 September 2022, each of whom will be leading their respective research theme:

• Dr Claudia E Henninger – Creative Industries and Innovation
• Dr Stephen Hicks – Creativity, Health and Wellbeing
• Dr Jenna C Ashton – Creative and Civic Futures

is a Reader Lecturer in Fashion Marketing Management, holding interest in sustainability and the circular economy within a fashion context. She has been published in internationally leading journals, such as the and the , and has disseminated her work at various leading conferences. Claudia is also an Executive Member of the and the Chair of the .

is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work in the School of Health Sciences, . He is also a member of the and, until recently, was the Senior Postgraduate Tutor for the . He is currently the 91ֱ�� lead on the (NIHR) and School for Social Care funded project, , which is working with eight co-researchers to examine social care workers’ assessments of the welfare needs of older LGBTQ+ people. Stephen has also carried out research into community belonging and questions of place with colleagues from Sociology, Anthropology, and Architecture, and has written extensively on LGBTQ+ parenting.

is an artist and Lecturer in Heritage Studies in the . Jenna's research contributes to evolving creative and community methods within heritage and cultural studies for addressing social and ecological (in)justice. Her work is often site-specific, highlighting experiences and knowledge(s) of place, and she has over 15 years’ experience in community collaboration and co-production. Jenna also holds advisory and trustee roles in the UK and internationally, and is currently leading the project, ‘’ (AHRC UK Climate Resilience Programme (2020-2022)), is a Co-Investigator on ‘’ (NERC Future of UK Treescapes programme (2021-2024)), and is part of The University of Manchester’s Cottonopolis Collective (AHRC-NERC Hidden Histories of Environmental Science funded project, Cottonopolis).   

Professor of Poetry and Creative 91ֱ�� Director, , opened the workshop by providing a brief overview of Creative 91ֱ�� and the , followed by Research Associate Dr Alicia J Rouverol presenting on the project to date, along with a proposed framework for creative and cultural collaborations.

Taking place throughout 2021, and working in partnership with Creative 91ֱ��, , and , the project interviewed Creative and Cultural Industry professionals and academics in Higher Education Institutions who were engaged in partnerships. These interviews helped locate ‘best practice’, allowing the Deep Dive research team to develop a framework (or toolkit) with key distinct phases to help facilitate stronger, more viable partnerships between academics and industry professionals.

Attendees were then divided into breakout rooms and asked to consider their experiences when working in partnerships and collaborations and to put forward their thoughts on frameworks. The provocations provided to each breakout room were:

1. How best can you sustain an effective partnership?
2. Given your experience, in your own context, what are the challenges in developing, implementing and evaluating a framework?

When everyone reconvened, there were clear themes in each breakout room’s responses concerning best practice in partnerships. Some of these included: finding common interests with partners; communication, both formal and informal, including regular check-ins with colleagues and acknowledging differences with collaborators; and supporting early-mid career workers in their development.

Attendees were also able to hear from other project partners, including:

• – Cardiff Business School
• Rachel Kenyon – Business Engagement Manager, Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange, The University of Manchester
• –

• , Co-Founder and Director of the National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange (), concluded the workshop with an oversight of the NCACE’s key areas of work and its crucial findings, such as the value that collaborative activities bring to the arts and cultural sector.

If you would like to catch-up on the workshop and hear about the exciting research and thoughts of speakers and attendees, you can watch it on the .

Curated for Creative 91ֱ�� by Senior Research Fellow Ellah Wakatama OBE, the conversations focused on new publications in many genres, touching on poetry, science fiction, fantasy, nature writing, and memoir. With a variety of poets and storytellers, these conversations also acted as a celebration of diversity, inclusivity, and the power of literature, with speakers reflecting on their experiences, their work, and their visions for the future.

The conversations included:

• Love and Being – Niki Igbaroola, Jared McGinnis, and Kasim Ali
• Our Future Selves – Geoff Ryman, Temi Oh, and Nikhil Singh
• Writing Nature, ft. The Nan Shepherd Prize – with Marchelle Farrell and Nina Mingya Powles
• Poetry: Remixes and Reimagination
• Crime and Punishment – Nadine Matheson, Kia Abdullah, and Parker Bilal

Thank you to all those who joined us for these wonderful conversations. Beyond our Creative 91ֱ�� line-up, the Bluedot Festival was yet again a wonderful and perfect blend of science, music and culture after its two-year hiatus. From ����ö����

and the Halle symphony orchestra head-lining Sunday to Tim Peake speaking about his Top Gun inspiration, it was a .

If you’re looking forward to next year as much as Creative 91ֱ��, tickets are already available for the .

After 7 years, Lemn Sissay has come to the end of his tenure as Chancellor of The University of Manchester. We are delighted to announce that Lemn will continue as Creative 91ֱ�� ambassador and has also been appointed as Honorary Professor of Creative Writing.

Lemn’s contributions in his time with the University have been remarkable, whether that be his work with local communities or his active role in literature across the North West. This included his commitment to widening access and removing barriers to those commonly under-represented, such as through his introduction of the .

We, at Creative 91ֱ��, are particularly grateful to Lemn, who supported the platform from its inception as an ambassador and has collaborated with us on several research projects and events. In particular, for the past six years, he has served as Lead Judge on our , including for this year’s theme of Climate Change.

We look forward to exciting future collaborations with Lemn during the forthcoming year.  

Lemn Sissay is pictured above with John McAuliffe, Creative 91ֱ�� Director and Professor of Poetry.

The meeting, which took place on 24 January 2019, awarded Advance HE Fellowships to colleagues across the University to mark its commitment to enhancing the student experience and delivering exceptional teaching and learning.

In the School of Law, Isil Aral was awarded a Fellowship, while Sarah Devaney and Catherine Stanton were each awarded Senior Fellowships, and Deborah Madden of the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures was awarded a Fellowship.

The LEAP is accredited by AdvanceHE to award Associate, Fellowship, Senior and Principal HEA Fellowships and is open to all staff who influence teaching and learning at an institutional, national and international level.

Since the programme was launched in 2016, colleagues across the University have been evidencing their teaching and learning excellence to line them up for formal national teaching awards.

“LEAP is a fantastic way for colleagues to reflect on the teaching and the support they provide for students and gain a nationally-recognised award,” said Prof Judy Williams, University Academic Lead for LEAP. “It has also enabled people to share best practice and make connections across the University.”

The LEAP programme runs twice per year and will be accepting applicants from a LEAP Information Session on 2 October 2019. To find out more, or to book a place on the session, please visit .