SDG16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Northumbria has significant expertise relating to justice, peace and strong, cohesive communities. These not only form the basis of multiple research strengths but are also key components of our degrees and outreach in areas including law and policing. This page outlines specific policies, processes and practices that support SDG16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
Students' Union
Northumbria University formally recognises Northumbria Students' Union as an independent students' union that represents students' political and welfare interests across the University. This recognition covers all three of governance input, support for students and social activities: Northumbria Students' Union provides governance input by representing students' political and welfare interests, support for students through welfare and advice services, and social activities by organising leisure activities and societies, and it is free to operate without unnecessary interference from the University.
This recognition is reflected in practical involvement in University operations rather than acknowledgement alone. The Students' Union's elected sabbatical officers are closely involved in the University's decision making processes and sit as members on a number of University committees as well as on the Board of Governors. This gives students a direct voice in institutional governance at the highest level.
This partnership is also set out formally in the Student Charter, which is agreed jointly by the University and the Students' Union and applies to all students across all programmes and locations. The Charter is a summary of the University's aspirations for all students and has been developed in partnership with the Students' Union, reflecting a shared commitment to delivering an excellent student experience for all.
Under the Charter, the University commits to providing a supportive and academically enriching community built around research rich learning and the best available technology, along with a high quality and challenging learning experience focused on graduate outcomes. Students receive support from academic staff committed to their academic and personal development, access to learning resources and specialist wellbeing services, a personal tutor and induction and welcome sessions backed by programme handbooks and guides. The University also commits to timely feedback on assessments, normally within twenty working days, accurate and transparent information about programmes, opportunities to develop career and employability skills including enterprise and self-employment, and regular opportunities for students to feed back on their whole experience.
For its part, the Students' Union commits to welcoming students to Northumbria and offering a wide range of societies, projects and volunteering opportunities so students can have fun, make friends and build their CV. The Union champions student interests and represents student views to the University, the local community and at a national level, and gives students the opportunity to democratically elect representatives for their programme and for the Students' Union itself. The Union works in partnership with the University to enrich the student experience, provides an independent and confidential advice service on academic issues, and offers comfortable spaces for students to relax and build social and professional networks.
The Charter is underpinned by a joint statement from the Vice Chancellor and the Students' Union President, committing both organisations to encouraging staff and student behaviours grounded in equity, diversity, fairness, collegiality and a concern for ethical conduct and the welfare of individuals, so that students can be justifiably proud of their achievements and the value of a Northumbria award.
Engaging With Local Stakeholders
We have written policies and procedures to identify local stakeholders external to the university and engage with them. Our Stakeholder Identification and Engagement Procedure was created in June 2021 and last reviewed in June 2026, when it was approved by the University Sustainability Management Group. It sets out our approach to the management of stakeholders and our relationship with them. Our approach enables the University to be more effective, efficient and strategic in the way we interact with our stakeholders, developing an organised way of engaging and managing these relationships, which will support stakeholder engagement across the University. This ensures effective development of stakeholder relationships and ensures a proactive approach. The Procedure is overseen by the University Sustainability Management Group, with progress reported in the Sustainability Annual Report, and is published within the Stakeholder Engagement section of our website.
A recent example shows the Procedure in practice. On 9 June 2026 the University announced a £245,061 award from The National Lottery Community Fund to establish the first North East and Cumbria Centre for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. These communities were identified as a stakeholder group underrepresented in higher education, and the project builds on a successful pilot with Darlington Traveller Education Service and on the University’s commitment as a signatory of the GTRSB into Higher Education Pledge. The Centre will deliver outreach for young people and their families, create hub sites where communities can build trust and networks, and develop training for professionals. The launch was marked by the Our Stories Matter event on 17 June 2026 at City Campus, which brought together community members, authors, cultural advocates and academics.
Stakeholder Engagement Mechanisms in Decision Making
Northumbria maintains ongoing mechanisms that give local government and civil society representatives, who have no direct role in running the University, a meaningful way to take part in University decision making. Through these mechanisms the University shares its expertise and gains insight from the communities it serves.
Our University Strategy 2030 commits to playing a leading role in the economic and social transformation of our region. These efforts include a range of strategic activities aimed at strengthening community links and expanding the University's positive impact on society, as detailed below. Our Strategy was developed over the course of a year through a series of deep and wide conversations with staff, governors, students, alumni, civic partners and stakeholders. We received hugely important contributions from leading thinkers in industry, politics and government, education and funding bodies.
Through the Collaborative Newcastle Universities Agreement, a formal partnership between Northumbria, Newcastle University and Newcastle City Council established in July 2021, Northumbria works in partnership with the Council and the Police and meets regularly with them to support positive community relationships. The same partnership brings the Council into work on student housing needs and on how the universities can support the city’s route to Net Zero.
In 2025 the universities, their Students’ Unions, Newcastle College and Newcastle City Council launched the Students as Partners forum, which gives the Council a standing route to engage with student representatives on housing, transport, safety and health and wellbeing support. Its inaugural meeting in June 2025 covered each of these.
The University also opens its climate planning to local people through the Newcastle Climate Change Forum. The fifth forum, co-hosted at Northumbria’s Great Hall in March 2026 with Newcastle University and Newcastle City Council, was free and open to civic leaders, businesses and the wider public, and its discussions feed into the development of future plans across both universities.
We work in partnership across the region with the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority, local authorities, businesses and third sector partners to drive inclusive economic growth and to address regional inequalities, ensuring that through our role as an anchor institution, employer, educator and through our research, we can have a positive impact on the city of Newcastle.
We have representation at leadership and operational levels on a number of partnerships and city or region groups and boards, in order to ensure that the university is involved in local and regional decision making and policy developments. These include:
In addition, the work of the university touches, engages with and responds to our many communities and neighbours in the city and region to inform our decision making and strategy. This includes employer liaison boards which ensure our courses are up to date and relevant, our Business Clinic which allows students to work on live community and business projects, and our multi award winning Student Law Office which provides pro bono legal advice to our communities.
We seek to engage with young people through inspiring them with different activities such as science, space, cooking and sport. One such project, brokered by Northumbria's Healthy Living Lab through its holiday food and activity research, gave young people from disadvantaged backgrounds a direct route to feed into and affect decision making on holiday activity provision, rather than being a one-off engagement event.
Expert Advice to Government
Northumbria's Public Policy and Management (PPM) research group is the largest complement of public policy and management scholars in the UK for public services including education, health and social care, policing, fire and rescue and housing. PPM members provide expert advice to government at local, regional and national level, spanning all three recognised forms of that advice: policy guidance, participation in committees and provision of evidence, holding significant roles on key learned societies, research networks and other public policy government forums.
Local
PPM members support individual local authorities in embedding the Human Learning Systems approach into day-to-day commissioning and performance management, working alongside council officers to redesign how services are funded and delivered. This ongoing collaboration has fed into recent published work, including a 2024 paper setting out a renewed reform and research agenda for relational public services and a 2025 study examining how failure is currently defined and managed within English local government, both intended to give local authorities a stronger conceptual basis for reform, alongside the provision of expert advice.
Northumbria works with local government and partners to bring its expertise into decisions affecting Newcastle and the North East. Insights North East is a collaboration between Newcastle University, Northumbria University, the NHS, North of Tyne Combined Authority and Newcastle City Council that aims to shape policy design and implementation so that policies better suit the needs of communities across the region. This sits alongside the Collaborative Newcastle Universities Agreement, through which Northumbria and Newcastle University work closely with the Police and the City Council, meeting regularly to provide advice and support positive community relationships, and have developed joint projects to address challenges facing Newcastle and the North East.
Regional
Dr Max French, Associate Professor in Newcastle Business School, and Dr Melissa Hawkins, Lecturer in Newcastle Business School, both members of the Public Policy and Management cluster, worked as Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE) Policy Fellows to pilot the development of Areas of Research Interest directly with the North East Combined Authority, testing how a regional authority could publicly set out its evidence needs and connect them to relevant academic expertise. This pilot, along with interviews with combined authority staff and local councils, formed the evidence base for a national practical guide published in December 2024. The work has since progressed into a 2026 study examining how individual Areas of Research Interest could be brought together into a shared regional ecosystem, and into a newly funded project building regional academic policy ecosystems through Areas of Research and Teaching Interest, both aimed at helping North East authorities coordinate their evidence needs more effectively.
National
Dr Max French submitted written evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Finance and Public Administration Committee in June 2024 during its statutory review of the National Outcomes, feeding directly into a formal five yearly review process required under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. This fed into a report published with Carnegie UK in August 2024, setting out six specific steps the Scottish Government could take to strengthen delivery of its national wellbeing outcomes.
Dr French and Dr Melissa Hawkins also authored a practical guide on Areas of Research Interest, published in December 2024 through the CAPE programme, a partnership between Northumbria and UCL, Cambridge, Manchester and Nottingham, supported by the Government Office for Science and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. The guide gives national government departments and arms length bodies a practical framework for publishing their evidence needs and connecting with relevant researchers, complementing existing central government guidance on the same process.
Professor Marion Oswald MBE of Northumbria Law School has been appointed by the Home Office to the Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group, an advisory non-departmental public body. Members of the group provide independent expert advice to the Home Office on the ethical considerations around biometrics, forensics, machine learning, AI and complex data sets. Professor Oswald joined five other newly appointed experts from across the UK. Her role involves giving ethical advice to the Home Office and Government Ministers on technologies such as facial recognition and data-driven machine learning and AI.
Policy And Lawmakers Outreach and Education
We provide outreach, general education, upskilling and capacity building for policy and lawmakers at local, national and international levels on topics including economics, law, technology, migration and displacement and climate change.
Northumbria's Public Policy and Management research group brings academics into direct contact with those shaping policy and legislation, equipping policy professionals with the knowledge, skills and evidence needed to address complex, long term challenges in public service delivery. Members hold influential positions in government forums, learned societies and research networks, and regularly deliver training, policy education and developmental workshops for local and regional government officials. The Group's teaching and executive education portfolio combines current thinking on public service reform with problem led learning that bridges the gap between academic research and policy practice, and it leads and collaborates on research projects funded by UK research councils, civic bodies and governments to keep this teaching grounded in real world policy contexts.
We support policy and lawmakers through work focused specifically on SDG16, including upskilling on the legal and forensic aspects of government programmes. In May 2025 Northumbria launched its Centre for Responsible AI, which brings together academics, policymakers and government and industry experts to advance AI education, research and policy solutions. In its first year, the Centre has established key stakeholder partnerships and developed training and policy guidance for public sector and industry professionals. Professor Marion Oswald, Professor of Law in Northumbria Law School, is the academic lead for the Centre and is working with law enforcement agencies to investigate the future use of probabilistic AI in policing. The project is developing a framework to understand the implications of uncertainty and to build confidence in future use of probabilistic AI in law enforcement, keeping the interests of justice and accountability central to the work. AI based technologies can deliver real benefits for police, courts and law enforcement bodies, helping to tackle digital data overload, identify previously unknown risks and increase operational efficiency.
Dr Cerian Griffiths, Emma Piasecki and Philip Anderson, together with Professor Tim Wilson, all of Northumbria Law School, informed UK policymakers on the use of digital forensics and digital evidence across the criminal justice system. The team worked with the Home Office as part of expert contributions to a government project examining the impact of forensic science in UK law, and presented their findings to the Home Office led Forensic Science Reform Programme Board.
Globally, Professor Gitanjali Nain Gill, Professor of Environmental Law in Northumbria Law School, has acted as an expert academic adviser to international policy and law makers and organisations, including the Sabin Centre Peer Review Network on Climate Change Litigation, where she is National Rapporteur on India's climate change litigation. Her advisory work also spans other thematic policy issues including access to environmental justice, climate change, biodiversity, land rights, the SDGs and sustainability, with a particular focus on India.
Participation in Government Research
As a research focused institution, Northumbria undertakes policy focused research in collaboration with government departments. A leading example is the Northumbria University Digital Forensics Project, carried out with the assistance of the Home Office as part of expert contributions to a Government project on the impact of forensic science in UK law (SDG16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).
The research team comprised Dr Cerian Griffiths, Emma Piasecki, Philip Anderson and Professor Tim Wilson of Northumbria Law School, working with Dr Sophie Carr of the University of Derby. Their report, Digital Forensics within the Criminal Justice System: Use, Effectiveness, and Impact, was commissioned by the Forensic Policy Team in the Home Office Data and Identity Directorate. Using interviews, focus groups and surveys, the team captured experience of digital forensics from the initial point of investigation through to trial and appeal. Participants included officers from regional police forces, the National Crime Agency and counter terrorism units, police Digital Forensics Unit investigators, HM Prison and Probation Service, the Crown Prosecution Service, independent digital forensics practitioners and solicitors and barristers who both prosecute and defend. The study found that 90% of criminal investigations and prosecutions now involve a digital element.
The team presented their findings to the Home Office led Forensic Science Reform Programme Board, and the report featured again in discussion at the Board’s final meeting at the close of the Programme. The project also brought organisations from across the criminal justice system into constructive cross-professional dialogue about problems and problem solving.
The findings were presented to senior officials at the Home Office led Forensic Science Reform Programme Board in 2024, and the report featured again in discussion at the Board’s final meeting at the close of the Programme. The research also spoke directly to the Home Office’s Impact of Forensic Science Project, which aimed to develop a model for measuring the impact of forensic science across the criminal justice system. The project facilitated constructive dialogue between organisations across the system from investigation to trial, supporting more effective and accountable justice institutions.
We collaborate closely with various government departments through our Centre for Responsible AI, a leading hub for policy focused research on the ethical and inclusive use of artificial intelligence. The Centre brings together academics, policymakers and industry to guide responsible AI deployment in areas such as law enforcement, public sector governance and digital education. Working with public sector bodies, including the Police, the Centre provides advice on AI policy and governance, supporting the UK Government's AI Opportunities Action Plan and regional commitments to responsible AI use. Current projects include PROBabLE Futures, examining probabilistic AI in law enforcement, and Generative AI: Building Young Refugees' Skills and Capacities, exploring AI's role in education for displaced communities. Through these partnerships, Northumbria is contributing directly to shaping national and regional AI policy, ensuring technology is developed and applied in ways that are ethical, transparent and socially beneficial.
Northumbria has been working with UK Government to help shape the future reform of the National Planning Policy Framework. Professor Alister Scott, who is based in our Faculty of Science and Environment, is working closely with UK Government to find new ways to improve policy and decision making across built and natural environments. He has played a key role in national conversations on land use in recent years, and was appointed as the sole special adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee inquiry on how we respond to increasing demands on land in England.
Northumbria’s Healthy Living Lab, led by Professor Greta Defeyter OBE, researches school holiday food insecurity, and its work directly informed the Department for Education’s expansion of the national Holiday Activities and Food programme. Professor Defeyter is currently working with the Department for Education on the roll out of the £315 million National School Breakfast Club Scheme across all state funded primary schools in England.
Northumbria's expertise in space law research has also shaped UK Government policy for managing radio communications used by the space sector. This strategy informs how satellites use the radio frequency spectrum and how Ofcom manages and regulates the spectrum for efficiency. At Northumbria, we research and teach on space, cyber and telecommunications governance, examining the use of existing laws and policies and giving recommendations for policy reform. Ofcom's Space Spectrum Strategy is important because it sets UK strategy on the space sector's use of radio communications, keeping pace with technology and the needs of society. Ofcom sought advice from a range of experts as part of its consultation process, including Lauren Napier, Lecturer in Space and Cyber Law at Northumbria, and other space law researchers and academics from Northumbria Law School. As a result, a number of Northumbria's policy recommendations have now been adopted within the published strategy.
Neutral Platform and 'Safe' Space
We provide a neutral platform and a safe space for different political stakeholders to come together to frankly discuss challenges. The University Visiting and External Speakers and Events Policy commits our campus to being a safe space for freedom of speech. Section 2.3 (page 2) provides a safe space by ensuring that all authorised meetings and activities should proceed without disruption or denial of access or exit for speakers or audience being impeded, the safety of those attending or in the vicinity being endangered, or intimidation and breach of the peace. Our Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech Policy summarises key ways we promote safe spaces for dialogue, in which academic freedom and freedom of speech are secured within the University, and is written in accordance with the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. Our approach allows us to bring together opposing political groups to discuss challenges and to identify a means forward. The University affirms that academic staff have both research freedom and teaching freedom within the law, as enshrined in the Main Statement of Terms and Conditions of Employment for academic staff, and this protection applies equally to staff at every level of seniority, from early career and junior academics through to established, senior academics. These principles are also included in the University's Staff Code of Conduct. Academic staff are encouraged to test received wisdom in both teaching and research.
In support of the Policy, Northumbria experts regularly host and participate in roundtable discussions with different political stakeholders, including politicians, civil servants and officials. For example, Northumbria's Dr Elliott Johnson, Vice Chancellor's Fellow in Public Policy, joined a roundtable discussion with the Department for Work and Pensions to discuss Government plans to support more disabled people into work, including through reforms to the health and disability benefits system, with the Minister for Social Security and Disability, Sir Stephen Timms.
