MSc students present sustainable funding recommendations for Belfast Stories as part of real-world City Deal learning.
Ulster University students have brought fresh thinking to one of Belfast's most ambitious regeneration projects, presenting innovative funding recommendations for the Belfast Stories project to Belfast City Council’s Belfast Stories Programme Office.
Six students from Ulster University's MSc in Commercial Management presented their research and recommendations on sustainable funding options for the Belfast Stories project at an event hosted by Ulster University on Wednesday 17 June. The exercise formed part of the students' academic programme, giving them direct exposure to the scale, complexity, and real-world challenges of a major City Deal tourism project.
Belfast Stories, which has received investment through the Belfast Region City Deal, is a landmark heritage and cultural regeneration initiative for the city. The students were tasked with researching creative and innovative approaches to long-term financial sustainability, developing proposals that drew on international best practice and emerging models in heritage and civic infrastructure funding.
Councillor Ian McLaughlin, Chair of the Strategic Politics and Resources Committee, said:
"Belfast Stories is a genuinely exciting project for this city. It is about connecting people to our rich and layered history. That takes not just vision, but real financial creativity and long-term thinking. Engaging with Ulster University Masters students as the next generation of built environment and commercial management professionals is something we value enormously. Fresh perspectives and their quality of thinking on complex challenges is energising and always welcome."
Dr Sharon McClements, Senior Lecturer at Ulster University, added:
"This kind of exercise sits at the heart of what we do at Ulster University – giving our students the opportunity to engage with live, complex projects that matter to this region. The Belfast Region City Deal represents one of the most significant investment programmes Northern Ireland has seen, and for our MSc students to apply their learning in that context is genuinely valuable, both for their development and for the broader conversation around how we deliver these projects sustainably."
The event reflects Ulster University's ongoing role as a delivery partner across multiple strands of the Belfast Region City Deal, embedding academic expertise and emerging talent within the region's most significant infrastructure and regeneration programmes.
