Manchester Climate Change Citizen Panel 2025
Executive Summary
The Manchester Citizen Panel, convened throughout April 2025, brought together 14 residents broadly reflective of Manchester's diverse population to inform the development of the city's next Climate Change Plan.
Through three structured sessions, participants focussed on three key topics: transport, buildings, and greenspace.
The panel showed strong community appetite for climate action and the co-benefits it brings, with their recommendations emphasising whole system approaches that address multiple challenges simultaneously whilst ensuring equity and community involvement.
Panellists identified retrofit of all buildings as their top priority, followed by integrated transport solutions, and enhanced green spaces.
Through their participation, participants moved from initial uncertainty to a more confident and positive view, with one noting: "I feel much more positive about action for climate change in Manchester."
The panel strongly endorsed ambitious action whilst highlighting the critical importance of transparency, affordability, and community engagement in delivery.
Delivering the Panel
Manchester Climate Change Agency appointed the organisation, Climate Insights, to conduct research into best practice on involving citizens in developing city-wide climate plans, to organise and deliver activity to bring citizens into the development of Manchester’s next Climate Change Plan, and to report back on key findings.
Designing the Panel
The research into best practice concluded the right format for Manchester’s next Climate Action Plan was a Citizens Panel to be made up of between 12-20 people. This decision was based on comparison to similar exercises conducted in the UK, the recent resident engagement already conducted through the development of the Our Manchester Strategy, as well as the time and budget available for the work.
14 people whose backgrounds, ages and ethnicities were broadly reflective of Manchester were selected to take part in the Panel. The selection process also ensured that panellists represented a diversity of political alignments and level of engagement with climate issues.
The panellists were taken through a series of structured information sharing sessions and workshops held at weekends and evenings, designed to capture and include their views in the production of the next Manchester Climate Change Plan 2025-30.
The sessions were designed to focus on the areas that contributed most to Manchester’s direct carbon emissions, buildings and transport; with a third undetermined topic held open for panellists to determine based on what was important to them (they chose greenspaces).
Running the Panel
Climate Insights led recruitment of Panel members, advertising the opportunity widely across Manchester and using a ‘blind’ selection method to appoint members to the Panel to create the reflective mix of participants required.
The Panel met three times throughout April 2025, two in person sessions held on Saturdays and one online session held on a weekday evening. 14 people attended.
Panellists were provided information relevant to the featured topics prior to each session, additional worksheets were provided at the in-person sessions and knowledgeable guest speakers from public and voluntary organisations, such as the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre and Involve, attended to provide additional information and answer panellist questions. The Director of MCCA also attended all three sessions.
Discussion was facilitated by Climate Insights, who led a range of varied and interactive exercises and workshops designed to enable discussion and gain consensus around key messages.
Panel members were reimbursed for their time via vouchers to the value equivalent to the Manchester Living Wage, their travel costs were reimbursed, and food and refreshments were provided.
Panellists were asked to provide feedback after each session.
Key Findings
Buildings
Recommendation:
Seek to make ALL buildings warmer, more energy efficient, cleaner and healthier for ALL residents and businesses in Manchester.
Key insights:
Participants strongly favoured a “retrofit first” approach to heat pump installation.
Emphasis on neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood delivery rather than individual properties.
Need for skilled workforce development through apprenticeships and training.
Important to address all housing types regardless of ownership status.
“We will be doing it repeatedly, in a cycle for a generation to retrofit all the buildings… neighbourhood by neighbourhood, block by block, not individual houses.”
Transport
Recommendations:
More frequent, regular, affordable public transport.
Integrate walking, buses and trams, e-bike hiring, bike collection and servicing support.
E-bike enforcement speed controls.
Expanded Park & Ride facilities.
Key insights:
Strong consensus on reducing car dependency through better public transport.
Emphasis on connecting neighbourhoods to each other, not just to city centre.
Need for integrated, affordable ticketing across all transport modes.
Support for active travel infrastructure with proper maintenance and safety measures.
“By 2027, we want to see a more integrated and joined up bus and tram system because we don’t feel like buses and trams at the moment are that integrated.”
Green Spaces
Recommendation:
Improving the availability, quality and accessibility of green spaces and local community hubs, including bike storage and facilities.
Key insights:
Strong desire for community-led management of green spaces.
Need to repurpose derelict and unused land for community benefit.
Importance of making green spaces safe, accessible, and inclusive.
Integration of climate action with community building.
“Community involvement in maintaining green spaces and making sure they are well maintained and used… Making sure that we communicate as local citizens and feedback to local authorities/councils about what change you want to do.”
Cross-cutting themes and enabling conditions
The panel identified several interconnected themes and conditions essential for effective climate action:
Community empowerment and engagement. Participants consistently emphasised the need for genuine community involvement in both decision-making and implementation, with transparent reporting on progress and outcomes.
Integrated solutions. The panel recognised deep interconnections between transport, housing, and nature, favouring solutions that address multiple challenges simultaneously. Participants highlighted how “access to transport, services, green spaces, and jobs vary by location, often disadvantaging areas further from the city centre.”
Equity and affordability. Ensuring climate solutions don't disadvantage lower income residents was a persistent concern. Participants emphasised that any changes must be affordable and accessible to all communities, supported by funding mechanisms where necessary.
Education and skills development. Strong support emerged for climate education and training programmes for climate-related jobs, particularly around retrofitting homes and sustainable transport options.
Clear communication. The panel stressed the importance of plain language and communication free from jargon to ensure all residents can understand and participate in climate initiatives.
Participant Impact and Learning
Panel members reported the following benefits of taking part:
The panel process enhanced participants' understanding and engagement with climate issues:
“I have learnt a lot about the topic. The team have delivered fantastic sessions”
“It was an eye opener to what is involved in climate change”
“I have a better understanding of the initiative and feel happier and less anxious about the requirements/changes/responsibilities”
Participants recognised both the complexity of the challenge and Manchester's existing efforts:
“Manchester is already doing a lot”
“there is still a way to go and that challenges remain.”
Conclusion
The Manchester Citizen Panel demonstrated strong public appetite for ambitious climate action when residents are properly informed and engaged.
The recommendations provide a clear mandate for integrated, community centred approaches to retrofitting buildings, transforming transport, and enhancing green spaces.
The process also revealed that meaningful community engagement can transform initial uncertainty and even scepticism into genuine enthusiasm for climate action.
The panel’s recommendations and key points of agreement on themes and considerations provide a solid foundation for implementing Manchester's Climate Change Plan.
