Platform. The everyday portal for sharing knowledge and intelligence on sustainability across Greater Manchester.

Inspire People

Levenshulme Inspire: Inspiring People and Unlocking their Potential

Inspire CIC talk to Morag Rose of Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisations (GMCVO) about inspiring Levenshulme and unlocking its potential.

Peak Valley Housing Association: Opening Up The Hub

Sam Cooper of the Peak Valley Housing Association chats to Alex Wharton about The Hub, a new community centre in Hattersley and Mottram.

The Mosses Community Association: Managing The Community’s Centre

Peter Firth of The Mosses Community Association chats to Alex Wharton about building an association for the local community in a centre that wasn’t built to last.

On a Wing and a Prayer: St. John's Centre, Old Trafford

Christine Aspinall, Centre Manager of St John’s Centre, talks to Alex Wharton about local authority funding cuts in an interview for the GMLIP Realising the Potential of Community Hubs project.

Hulme Community Garden Centre

Rachel Summerscales, the Centre Manager of Hulme Community Garden Centre, tells Alex Wharton about working with nature and balancing books in an interview for the GMLIP Realising the Potential of Community Hubs project.

Indian senior citizens centre

Chhaya Kanani, the Centre Manager of the Indian Senior Citizens Centre, tells Alex Wharton about reducing loneliness and isolation and the effect of cuts in local authority funding.

Making people laugh: Brinnington Community Association, Stockport

Alex Wharton talks with Maureen Dalton about Brinnington Community Association, its value to local people and the challenges involved in funding and organising social, recreational and educational activities at Brinnington Community Centre.

Regeneration: past, present, future

Manchester is one of the best examples of urban regeneration in the UK, but what lessons can we learn from what has worked well in the past to make sure that future projects in this city region are just as successful?

Event - Can Manchester become a cycling city?

What is the state of cycling in Manchester and what is its potential to become a cycle-friendly city in the coming years?

Event - Austerity, warmth and well-being: connecting fuel poverty and urban health

Join cities@manchester for an Urban Forum focusing on the health aspects of fuel poverty. A panel of experts will provide insights on these interrelated problems, followed by a discussion with the audience, and an opportunity for informal socialising.

Turn Up the Volume: Experiments in Local Economics

What can be done to support local economies?  Alex Wharton reports on Rethinking Prosperity - Experiments in Local Economics, a recent workshop held at the Centre for Sustainable Living.

Urban garden, Biospheric Foundation, Salford

Turn Up the Volume: Food and the City

What role can urban agriculture play in the creation of sustainable cities?  Alex Wharton reports on Food and the City, one of a series of events held at the Biospheric Foundation during MIF13. 

Turn Up the Volume: An Economy for All

How can we create an economy for all? Alex Wharton reports on the CLES Summit 2013.

Just city?

Turn Up the Volume: Towards a Just Manchester

What can be done to make Greater Manchester more just?  Alex Wharton reports on Manchester: A Just City?, one of a series of Urban Fora organised by cities@manchester.

Turn Up the Volume: Local Action in an Era of Localism

What does localism mean for local communities and what, in particular, does it mean for disadvantaged local communities who've felt the brunt of austerity and welfare cuts?  Alex Wharton summarises the main arguments made by speakers at a one-day research workshop at The Open University.

Sustainable Stories - The Speakers Corner

Sustainable Stories was an interactive exhibition designed to share and provoke discussion about the future of Greater Manchester. It launched on Friday 2nd November 2012 at the CUBE Gallery, Portland Street, Manchester and over the course of four days featured a series of 'Speakers Corner' sessions on sustainability that were captured by visual minute takers and which are included below.