4th National Conference on Societal Resilience

We are delighted to announce that the fourth National Conference on Societal Resilience will take place over two days on February 24th and 25th 2026 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 conference theme of 'the contribution of children and youth to resilience', and topics including:

• 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.

Conference programme

We are preparing the conference programme which will include leading policymakers, practitioners, and resilience experts from multiple sectors.

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, 2024, and 2025

The 3rd National Conference in March 2025 welcomed over 160 participants and continued the national conversation on societal resilience to disruption. We collectively addressed the conference theme of What worked? What didn’t? Why?

The conference included facilitated table discussions centred on the scenario of a major cyber-attack on the nation’s energy grid in 2040. To read insights from these discussions, check out  The National Briefing on Societal Resilience [UK+] - Issue 55.

Watch some of the highlights from the 2025 conference relayed by participants:

To recap on the successes of the 2024 and 2023 conferences, watch the highlights below:

Conference networking dinner

We are working out the details of the networking dinner. As with previous conference years, tickets are limited 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