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

Steady State Manchester: communicating a change

Steady State Manchester launches a series of conversations exploring how a viable economy can detox Manchester.

'The Langworthy Link' by Flickr user mwmbwls

The Cornerstone of community

Beth Perry talks to John Phillips, from Salford’s Langworthy Cornerstone about some of the challenges and joys of running a community centre.

Pile of old bricks

The Wall Needs Your Help This Weekend

The Alternative? Beth Perry profiles Jen Wu's The Wall and the possibility for reclaiming community spaces in new regeneration projects.

Autumnwatch 2013

Programming sustainability at the BBC: Albert, cultural change and technology

The Alternative? Beth Perry meets Richard Smith, Sustainable Production Manager at the BBC and considers the relationship between technology and cultural change.

Festival Square in Manchester, by Monika Lukasik

Sustainable spotlight on Manchester International Festival

The Alternative? Beth Perry profiles the environmental sustainability activities of Manchester International Festival within the emerging cultural ecology of the city.

Cornerhouse Exterior

Greening Cornerhouse

The Alternative? Beth Perry profiles Cornerhouse, a founding member of Manchester's Arts Sustainability Team (MAST) and details the emergence and growth of its 'green' credentials.

Image of the Brixton Pound Note

The Alternative? Transition Town Bolton and the circular economy

Beth Perry profiles Transition Town Bolton, part of the Transition Towns initiative, and their emphasis on the creation of a circular economy.

Knitting

The Alternative? Skills sharing and the Greeniversity

The Alternative? Beth Perry profiles Greeniversity as a new way of sharing skills for sustainability.

The Alternative? Talking 'Bout Envirolution

The Alternative? Beth Perry profiles Envirolution, a community cooperative in Greater Manchester bringing a festival spirit to environmental and social change.

Biospheric Foundation signage

The Alternative? The Biospheric Foundation

The Alternative? Beth Perry profiles the Biospheric Foundation, an initiative for rethinking food production and distribution in the city.

The Alternative? Rethinking sustainability

Beth Perry introduces a new series of articles - The Alternative? - which explores the concept of 'alternatives' in rethinking sustainability in Greater Manchester.

(c) Peter Fuchs

Turn up the volume on the values of sustainability

Beth Perry and Alex Wharton argue that we need to turn up the volume on the articulation of different values for the relationship between economic, social and environmental concerns in the city-region.

The Sharing City: new report by Friends of the Earth

An argument for ‘sharing’ as a sustainable foundation for participatory democracy and a transformative approach to urban futures, produced for Friends of the Earth.

Mapping the Urban Knowledge Arena report

We need the integration of existing knowledge as much as new knowledge and need to reclaim the right to the city for those that work and live within it. Beth Perry introduces a report from the Greater Manchester Local Interaction Platform based on a series of collaborative, cross-sectoral activities in 2012.

Governing Sustainability in Greater Manchester

Beth Perry, Mark Atherton and Mike Hodson take a look at the governance of sustainability in Greater Manchester.

What urban capacities exist to develop sustainable urban futures, formally and informally? What do different policies for sustainable urban development look like in different countries? How do different stakeholders and communities influence policy formulation? What can we learn from sharing experiences between cities in different parts of the globe?

From litter-ati to liter-ati: the challenge of a low carbon culture?

Beth Perry reflects on the everyday concerns that Greater Manchester citizens have around sustainability. Not talking the language of carbon, she suggests, does not mean people are sustainability illiterate.

The Greater Manchester Local Interaction Platform

Beth Perry of the University of Salford introduces the work being carried out, supported by Mistra Urban Futures, to create Local Interaction Platform for Greater Manchester, dedicated to a fairer, greener and denser city.

Sustainable Stories - with the children of Temple Primary School

This article features the work of the pupils of Temple Primary School, Manchester, which was part of the Sustainable Stories interactive exhibition staged at CUBE. The aim of the exhibition was to share and provoke discussions about the future of Greater Manchester. Its aim was to engage the public in a shared conversation about challenges, issues and solutions to make Greater Manchester more sustainable.

Hulme: Off the Critical List

From the archive: Beth Perry and Alan Harding argue that Hulme in Manchester may have come out of intensive care, but to be truly considered a success story, it must deliver well-being to all its residents. Originally published in New Start magazine, 24 January 2003.