On the 27th June at Manchester Metropolitan University, we began to explore our shared vision for the Manchester Institute for Arts, Health & Social Change through the development of a concordat between partners. This will form the basis for the Manchester Declaration which will be published in autumn 2018. We are grateful to the contribution to this event from Maxine Peake and Jon Rouse.

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On the 6th September 2018...
...we followed up our launch event with a larger exploration of what our aspirations are - how we might achieve them - and what we need to do to get there. We explored how we might work together as artists, researchers, activists and those working in the health, social care and voluntary sectors. 

The only thing that was mandatory about the evening is that people came with an open mind and were actively involved in work in Greater Manchester that is driven by a desire to affect health and social change.

Whilst that session has passed, Clive Parkinson will be facilitating smaller scale sessions with diverse community groups across Greater Manchester over October and November 2018. So if you feel your group represents people who might not yet have a strong voice in this developing arts, health and social change agenda, get in touch via the contact page. If you want to contribute via email towards this shared vision of a Manchester Declaration, the following four questions are part of the stimuli used in these sessions - feel free to respond via our contact page.

1. If you could shout from the rooftops - tell the world about what you do - what would you be sharing - what's your story?

2. Research - how might we do things differently?

3. How do you imagine the arts influencing social change?

4. Who defines value and what might new knowledge look like?