Third National Conference on Societal Resilience

We are delighted to announce that the third National Conference on Societal Resilience will take place over two days on 10 and 11 March 2025 at the Whitworth Hall, The University of Manchester.

This conference is organised by the National Consortium for Societal Resilience [UK+] (NCSR+).

This in-person conference will again provide a vital networking forum bringing together partners from policy and practice from across UK+ (including from the public, voluntary and community, and business sectors), to share insights, learn together with likeminded colleagues, and identify collaborative opportunities on how to enhance societal resilience. 

Join us to continue the national conversation on societal resilience to disruption and jointly address the following conference topics, and more:

• celebrating good practices for societal resilience to support the most vulnerable in society.
• innovative partnering for societal resilience with businesses, networks, and public health.
• implementation lessons from the NCSR+ strategy on societal resilience.
• designing the future of societal resilience today.

Read the conference FAQs for the latest information.

Conference programme

We are preparing the conference programme which will include compelling voices in societal resilience from national and local government, voluntary and community sector, business, and academia. Confirmed speakers and panellists include:

• Leanne McMahon, Assistant Director for Customer and Building Safety, Kent Fire & Rescue Service and Chair of Kent & Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF) Community Resilience Group
• Emma Barrett OBE, Professor of Psychology, Security and Trust, The University of Manchester
• David Kemp, Head of Prevention, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service
• Steve Miller, Convenor, London Boroughs Faiths Network
• Craig Scott, Chair, Brockham Emergency Response Team (BERT)

The full conference programme will be available in January 2025.

Who should attend?

The conference is aimed at all those who have an interest in strategising and working collaboratively to enhance societal resilience.

The conference will focus on the contributions of:

• government, including local resilience partnerships across the UK (Local Resilience Forums, Regional/Local Resilience Partnerships, Emergency Preparedness Groups)
• voluntary and community, including local groups, faith-based organisations, national charities, and social enterprises
• business, including utilities, corporate programmes, and resilience advisors working in communities

Building on the successes of 2023 and 2024

The second National Conference in March 2024 continued the positive trajectory of the first conference.

We welcomed over 170 participants from local resilience partnerships, voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector (VCSE) organisations, senior government representatives and partners from policy and practice from across the UK.

The 2024 conference also embraced international delegations and participants from the Municipal Association of Bangladesh, Nigerian Peace Corps, and The Netherlands.

Watch some of the highlights as articulated by 2024 conference participants:

To recap on the success of the 2023 conference, watch the highlights below:

Conference networking dinner

We will again take over a private floor in the Hyatt Regency Manchester for our conference dinner on the evening of 10 March 2025.

This venue offers wonderful views across the city and the dinner was sold out and proved to be a great success at the 2024 conference.

Tickets are limited for the dinner so be sure to book your place early.

Getting to Whitworth Hall and staying in Manchester

The conference venue is close to the city centre and easily accessible by bus, car or on foot.

Find out more about more about getting to Whitworth Hall and preferential rates on nearby hotels.

About the National Consortium for Societal Resilience [UK+]

The NCSR+ was established 'to enhance the UK[+] whole-of-society approach to resilience, so that individuals, groups, organisations, and networks can all play a meaningful part in building the resilience of our society'. The consortium is co-chaired by Alliance Manchester Business School, Suffolk Resilience Forum and Sussex Resilience Forum. Membership of the consortium includes almost all local authorities in the UK along with key resilience partners.

Find out more about the work of the NCSR+.

In association with