Greater Manchester has been the site of many democratic movements.

The Peterloo Massacre saw the state kill its own citizens because they had the guts to demand the electoral franchise include working class men. The Chartists, whose presence was particularly strong in the North West, extended the struggle for suffrage that inspired Peterloo. Their demands were reasonable yet remain radical in our contemporary context. And the suffragists, then the suffragettes, with their tireless campaigns to extend suffrage to women, mobilised from across our city-region.

In Greater Manchester, something is brewing. A new way of doing things. People are coming together to demand change because we are sick of ordinary people’s voices being ignored. It’s a movement for real people power, a movement to give ordinary people a seat at the table. It is the movement for a permanent and powerful Citizens’ Assembly of Greater Manchester.

Citizens’ assemblies are deliberative decision-making bodies that work like juries. They bring together a representative group of ordinary people, selected by lottery to prevent self-selection by those with particular interests. Anyone in the local area can be selected, including non-citizens, people without fixed addresses and younger people. Participants are paid so everyone can participate equally. They then work together for over 30 hours to make decisions on a particular topic. Participants hear and watch testimony from experts with lived and learnt experience on the subject and then discuss potential solutions among themselves.

From Belfast to Paris to Fortaleza, decisions that affect ordinary people are made by ordinary people through these mechanisms. This is how we defend and rebuild our democracy: through deliberation.

Join Willie Sullivan, from the Electoral Reform Society, and Liv Ouwehand, from the Sortition Foundation, for a discussion about democratic reform, deliberative democracy and citizens’ assemblies.

Practical Information

The talk includes a Q&A session and light refreshments can be purchased from the venue’s bar.

Booking is essential.

Accessibility Information

The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk

The Percival Lecture

From Manchester, for the world: The University of Manchester’s 2035 strategy

Professor Duncan Ivison: President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester 

The University of Manchester was born as an answer to a question posed amid the Industrial Revolution: what kind of new knowledge and citizens were needed for Manchester to thrive in a world undergoing profound change? As it enters its third century, it stands at a similarly pivotal moment. Technological, geopolitical, economic and social revolutions are reshaping the world. What knowledge and skills does the digital age demand? What big leaps lie ahead for the University?

Since arriving in Manchester in 2024 to become its President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Duncan Ivison has led the development of a new strategy, Manchester 2035, following a year-long process of consultation with staff, students, alumni and external partners. Published in 2025, this new strategy addresses the question: what it means to be a truly great civic university for the 21st century?

In this talk, Professor Ivison will outline how the University plans to work with its city and region in new ways, where this deep-rooted sense of place is matched by global reach, through researchers, partners and alumni who share its purpose to improve lives, strengthen communities and tackle the world’s biggest challenges. He will talk about the importance it will place on partnerships, academic freedom, freedom of speech, teaching and research excellence, and inclusion.

Manchester Li &Phil Annual Percival Lecture

Manchester Lit&Phil is nearly 250 years old, which makes it one of the oldest learned societies in the United Kingdom. Its members have been sharing knowledge and ideas ever since the first meeting in 1781, paving the way for giant leaps forward in the way we understand the world. Past members include Ernest Rutherford, John Dalton and James Joule.

Thomas Percival was the Manchester Lit&Phil’s first President, and the Percival Lecture was established in 1947 to celebrate his legacy.

Location

Lecture theatre G.003, Alliance Manchester Business School, Booth St W, Manchester M15 6PB

Event schedule

Drinks reception for members and special guests: from 6.00 pm at The Mill. (Located directly opposite G.003.)

Talk starts: 6.45 pm 

Event ends: 8.00 pm

Practical Information

Booking is essential. This is a Lit&Phil Members Only Event: We recommend logging into the website to make booking and paying for your ticket quicker and easier.

We are very grateful to The University of Manchester for hosting this year’s Percival Lecture. This is a members-only event and places are limited.

Joel Goodman will talk about his specific experiences as a photojournalist, framed with the context of his photographs and publications. He will be discussing why it should matter to him beyond his own self-interest, what success and failure look like to him, what values he tries to bring to his practice and the pressures of working independently in sometimes hostile and unforgiving environments.

Most of his photography involves politics and “hard news” – unscheduled coverage of breaking stories or of live events – and, when he does his job well, the work can be published widely in print, online and on television, around the world. Often this coverage results from images photographed and then transmitted directly from his camera, where the only editing is in the focal length and composition he chose at the moment of capture.

Questions to Reflect On

• What does “success” versus “failure” look like for a hard‑news image?
• Walk us through one frame shown tonight: where you stood, focal length, and timing—why those choices?
• How do you stay safe and de‑escalate in hostile or fast‑moving situations?
• What pressures do independent freelancers face – from subjects, police, editors, or online audiences – and how do you keep your independence and values?
• In the UK context, how do you balance public interest with minimising harm – handling consent, privacy, minors, victims, and arrestees?
• With images sent straight from camera, how do you caption and verify under time pressure and prevent miscontext?

Practical Information

The presentation will include time for questions and discussion. Booking is strongly advised.

Access

Access to the event is via the Altrincham Street entrance.

Accessibility Information

Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk

For centuries, the Maasai people of East Africa have lived in harmony with the land, moving with the seasons and maintaining a delicate balance between people, cattle, and wildlife. Today, climate change, land privatisation, and conservation policies restrict this traditional mobility, challenging both livelihoods and culture.

Dalmas Tiampati, a Maasai herder and climate activist, leads the Maasai Centre for Regenerative Pastoralism in Kenya. His work integrates indigenous ecological knowledge with regenerative land management — restoring degraded pastures, empowering communities, and reviving cultural governance systems.

In this talk, Dalmas will share the Maasai philosophy that “a herder is a herder of herders” — a vision of leadership rooted in care, responsibility, and interdependence. He will explore how traditional pastoral wisdom aligns with modern sustainability science, and how innovations such as azolla cultivation can produce local biofertilizer and livestock feed at no cost, offering a nature-based path to climate resilience.

Dalmas will be available after the event to talk freely with any attendees who would like to carry on the conversation directly with Dalmas.

Who Should Attend?

• Professionals in ecology, sustainable agriculture, and international development.
• Students and researchers in environmental science, geography, and anthropology.
• Policymakers and NGO representatives working in regeneration and food systems.
• Members of the public seeking insight into indigenous solutions to the global climate crisis.

Questions to Reflect On

• What can the world learn from indigenous approaches to land stewardship?
• How can regenerative pastoralism heal ecosystems and cultures simultaneously?
• Can traditional knowledge and modern science work together to mitigate climate change?
• How might innovations like azolla reshape sustainable farming in arid regions?

Practical Information

The presentation will include time for questions and discussion. Booking is strongly advised.

Access

The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk

Local journalism used to be a thriving and highly profitable industry – so much so that the Manchester Evening News used to subsidise the losses on its stablemate, the Manchester Guardian. But the 21st century has been devastating for local newspapers in the UK as their main revenue model has disappeared and thousands of journalists have been laid off. Poorer and smaller communities have become ‘news deserts’ – places where no meaningful journalism is being done. And large city newspapers have shed dozens of their reporters and editors, reduced to a shell of their former selves. As a result, many people are much less knowledgeable about what is happening in their communities, and sources of local power – including the police, the council and local companies – are not held to account. There is also a strong argument that people reading much more national – as opposed to local – media has contributed to the polarisation we see in British politics. Can local journalism in the UK be rebuilt?

Practical Information

The talk includes a Q&A session and light refreshments can be purchased from the venue’s bar.

Booking is essential. Lit & Phil members: we recommend logging into the website to make booking your free member ticket quicker and easier.

Accessibility Information

The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk