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About us

Breadcrumb

  1. Queen Mary University of London
  2. About us
  3. Sustainability
  4. Sustainable development goals
  5. Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals
  6. Engagement

Engagement

Our approach to engagement support our approach to the UN Sustainable Development Goals through collaboration with communities, industry, and policymakers.

Our Platinum Watermark

Queen Mary University has been awarded a Platinum Watermark by the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE), recognising our strategic support for public engagement and our commitment to improving the support we offer. In 2021 we were the first university to be awarded this level of Engage Watermark. 

Centre for Public Engagement

Our Centre for public engagement is dedicated to working to embed public engagement further within the university by providing advice and support, reward and recognition, and funding for engaged acti

Queen Mary’s public engagement involves a huge range of projects in the UK and round the world, including the Pathways to Ancient Britain project ‘Deep History Detectives’ based in Norfolk to ACACIA, working with children in Africa on controlling asthma.

We are proud to be an institution that is committed to being connected to our local community, striving to create an environment where our university’s research, teaching, and approach can be shaped and shared with publics as partners in this process.

Our approach to public engagement is based on our strong community links, and our desire to be an engaged university and a good neighbour. We believe that everyone at Queen Mary can work with people outside the university in a mutually beneficial way.

In addition, Queen Mary empowers students to lead their own engagement projects, such as Barts Community Smiles, and works with a range of partners, particularly in our East London community, including the Mile End Community Project.

Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI)

The Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) project  aims to develop the first gender equality frameworks within Indian academia, with a specific focus on addressing gender inequality within Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine (STEMM) and promoting gender sensitisation.   

Following a selective application process, six Athena Swan accredited universities in the UK were awarded a UK partnership place on the project and a grant in March 2021. Queen Mary was one of those awarded a grant to participate in this project. Each university was paired with five Indian academic institutions.  Our Indian partner institutions:

London Tower Hamlets Climate Partnership 

Queen Mary continues to actively support and engage locally with Tower Hamlets Council climate action initiatives. Chaired by the local NHS Trust, Queen Mary is a partner in the Tower Hamlets Climate Partnership group.

The group collaborates with local organisations and residents, partnering to achieve the borough's net-zero carbon target by 2045. It works to identify and implement climate actions, promote sustainability, and provide strategic leadership through various subgroups and initiatives like the Climate Alliance.

Partnerships for the SDGs 

Queen Mary’s school of business management is a Signatory Member of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), and initiative of the UN global compact. As part of this, the school delivers a Sharing Information on Progress Report (SIP report) every 12 months on its progress of embedding the Seven Principles into research, curriculum, and partnerships to drive the transformation of management education.

The London Student Sustainability Conference 

For the last two years, 2024-2025, Queen Mary University has been an organising member for the London Student Sustainability Conference (LSSC). Collaborating with 10 other universities across London to pull it together, the conference offers a chance for students to showcase their research, supporting the SDGs.

Each year Queen Mary has has students present their research and in 2024, one of our PhD Students, researching biodegradable plastics, was selected as one of the top three presenters.

Through partnering for the goals, LSSC offers a fantastic opportunity for attendees to broaden their knowledge on sustainability issues. They can create connections, as well as gain inspiration, and the necessary tools to take climate action.

The East London Research Network

The East London Research Network (ELRN) brings together researchers across the Queen Mary faculties and research support roles to share best practice, build connections and discuss opportunities and challenges focused on our place in East London.

The network facilitates research partnerships supporting action across the SDGs including:

London Higher Networks 

Queen Mary has been an active member and contributor to the London Higher Network. This includes the London Higher Sustainability Network, which aims to share best practice across the sector across environmental sustainability, showcasing the work of London Higher members, and working towards shared targets for environmental practices.

We also contribute and attend the London Higher CIVIC network and the London Higher Research Excellence network. In 2024 we won two London Higher awards:

COP Delegation

Each year Queen Mary sends a delegation of academics and researchers to the Conference of the Parties (COP.) There, they share their varied expertise in global sustainability, looking at topics ranging from climate policy to culture-based climate action and engaging in cross-sectoral dialogues to further progress on the SDGs. In 2024, this included delegates from the School of Geography, the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, the People’s Palace Projects and the School of Law.

Ihsan Consulting 

Ihsan Consulting is a student-led consultancy and volunteering group working with non-profits, social enterprises and small to medium organisations to connect them with volunteer consultants. These consultants provide a voluntary service, helping the organisations achieve their goals, whether they are related to fundraising or marketing strategies, market analysis, growth strategy, and more.

People’s Palace Projects

People’s Palace Projects (PPP)  is a subsidiary of Queen Mary University, investigating the power of creativity and collaborates with marginalised communities to make change. With a growing global network of partners – reaching >320,000 people in 16 countries since 1997 – PPP advocates for equality, climate justice and better health through the arts. 

Student volunteering

Queen Mary offers an extensive student volunteering programme through its Students’ Union. We currently offer over 100 different volunteering opportunities with over 80 partnered charities and organisations, with over 4,500 volunteers registered and over 5,000 volunteering hours logged in the last year.

In addition to our general volunteering programme with local partner organisations, we also deliver a range of volunteering programmes through our Volunteering Groups with over 400+ student volunteers promoting health, wellbeing, hygiene, nutrition and family planning across local and disadvantaged communities, including refugees and immigrant groups.

Teddy bear hospital BARTS 

The biggest volunteering group on our campus, Teddy bear hospital run fun, interactive clinics in local primary schools every Wednesday. These clinics help children learn about health and feel less scared about visiting the doctors and the dentist to stay healthy.

BARTS community smiles 

Founded in 2017 to address an unmet need for raising awareness about oral and dental health within the community of Tower Hamlets, BARTS community smiles is a volunteering student group working to change that. They do this through running events and talks in community and school settings.

Project Play

Project Play is a volunteering group offering four weekly sessions in the Healing Space of the Royal London Hospital. Operating during the play-specialists ‘out-of-hours’ times, they fill the gap by organising arts and crafts activities, teen clubs, games nights and themed sessions for the children and their siblings on the ward. Their approach works to relieve stress, boredom and pain for the children, providing a safe and friendly environment for them to chat, play and feel comfortable.

Tower Hamlets – Active Communities Programme

Piloted in 2024-25, this programme delivers free sports and physical activity sessions to local children and young people through a student-led community outreach programme, funded by the Queen Mary Centre for Public Engagement. Continuing into the 2025/26 academic year, student volunteers will deliver free sessions at QM facilities as well as in local schools, youth clubs, and community centres.

QMSU Sport community partnerships

QMSU Sport has created partnerships and driven positive change throughout the borough of Tower Hamlets through impactful work with educational institutions, grassroots organisations, and key local stakeholders. Through a shared vision of increasing sports and physical activity within Tower Hamlets — an area found to be severely underactive, underfunded, and holding one of the highest childhood obesity rates in the UK — QMSU Sport works in conjunction with QUEEN MARY ’s Strategy 2030, QMSU’s Sports Strategy, and the overarching aims of London Sport and Tower Hamlets Council. Together, these partnerships support and facilitate innovative community projects throughout the area.

For example, in partnership with Globe Primary School, Queen Mary delivered free after-school football clubs for over 100 local girls aged 8–11. Supported by seven Queen Mary student coaches, who gained sports qualifications through the programme, the project enhanced both community wellbeing and student employability.

Volunteering Fair

Each year the Queen Mary Students’ Union delivers the Volunteering Fair. This is a relaxed, free event for all students to connect with charities supporting causes across the SDGs. For example, each year, in partnership with the Canal River Trust, we run 2-3 Big Green Canal Cleans, keeping our local canal clean and thriving for the wildlife and locals. In 2025, we did our biggest canal clean ever, with over 50 students and staff taking part.

Volunteering Awards

To recognise the thousands of hours of volunteering our students put in each year, our Students’ Union runs the annual Volunteering Awards. This recognises not only our volunteering groups and those individual students who have gone above and beyond, but the community organisations that facilitate the opportunities.  

Being Human Festival 

Queen Mary is a key partner in the UK’s Being Human Festival, the national celebration of humanities research. Each year, our academics and students host interactive workshops, performances, and community walks that bring research to life for diverse audiences. Supported by our Public Engagement team, these events foster collaboration, cultural exchange, and dialogue—strengthening partnerships and advancing shared understanding.

Climate Action Week 

Each year, departments across the university and the Students’ Union come together to deliver Climate Action Week—a programme of talks, workshops, exhibitions and interactive activities open to students, staff and the wider local community. The week provides accessible, public-facing education on climate change, sustainability, health, and environmental justice, offering opportunities for participants to learn from researchers, practitioners, and community leaders. Through hands-on sessions, skills-based workshops, and cross-disciplinary discussions, Climate Action Week helps build climate literacy, fosters community engagement, and empowers attendees to develop practical responses to the climate crisis.

STREAM – Foundation in SustainAbility short-course 

STREAM is “Sustainability Transformation through Research, Education and Action and Queen Mary,” and is the home of our new, co-created short course, providing staff, students and the wider Tower Hamlets community with access to education on the SDGs, giving them a foundational knowledge in sustainability.

Growth & Economic Development Partnership Board

Queen Mary is a key member of the Tower Hamlets Partnership Executive Group (PEG), which oversees the six thematic boards, including the Growth & Economic Development Partnership Board. This board is one of the six thematic partnerships that work towards the goals outlined in the overarching Tower Hamlets Partnership Plan, which aims to deliver "inclusive growth" and tackle inequality in the borough. 

CIVIC partnerships

We work with East London partner organisations across research, education, engagement and through our professional services in various ways including:

  • The Civic University Network is a national network led by Sheffield Hallam University in partnership with a consortium, including Queen Mary University of London. The CUN supports universities across the UK to work for the good of their places, deepen their civic impact and amplify their contributions.
  • Queen Mary is a delivery partner on the National Civic Impact Accelerator (NCIA), a national initiative supporting UK universities to deliver meaningful, measurable civic strategies and activities.

 

 

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