Research environment
The Centre for Living Sustainability (CLS) seeks to contribute new ideas for inclusive sustainable development that challenges inequalities. This includes carrying out creative and applied research embedded in communities and consists of hierarchies of knowledge, social norms and intergenerational dynamics in communities and structural inequalities.
The centre considers different temporal scales of complexity, change and uncertainty that necessitates understanding perspectives on cultural and natural heritage as well as visions for future generations. Research about intergenerational differences in everyday lives and aspirations is inclusive of children and youth, who are recognised as having the energy and creativity to motivate others. By building partnerships and creative spaces for dialogue, we link people in communities, civil society, enterprises, and policy makers together as agents of change.
We undertake this by –
- Building capacity, scholarship and research informed teaching
- Research Impact
- Consultancy and Training
- Community Engagement and Social Impact
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Building capacity, scholarship and research informed teaching
CLS supports staff that are research active to achieve their visions relating to academic research and also with the process of writing funding bids.
The team works alongside the Professional Development team and the curriculum to support with entering research in the following ways:
- Scholarships via ‘Research Jams’ and research sessions at our staff conferences
- Advanced scholarships via ‘Enquiring Minds’ projects to explore a topic of interest to colleagues and often involves secondary research feeding directly into our practice across UHI Inverness
- Advanced scholarship and research via ‘Research Connect’ scheme. CLS helps with fitting in with research systems when staff are embarking on research with human participants or animals in terms of going through ethics and also in identifying suitable levels of research training.
- Research seminars co-ordinated by CLS
- Research active staff – both Early Career Researchers (ECR) and more experienced researchers gain support in undertaking research, building a research profile and adhering to recognised university systems and standards for quality and impactful research.
- Where staff have remitted time, CLS supports funding applications and the monitoring of research.
- CLS supports the most experienced research staff to enter the Research Excellence Framework – the next REF is in 2029.
- We train staff across UHI in ECR and experienced researcher training programmes – Enterprising Researcher Programme
Our CLS postgraduate provision can also support a vibrant research community – Postgraduate Studies.
Research impact
Our research has a focus on inclusion and sustainability in communities and is applied and often co-constructed with the groups that we aim to serve. It surfaces the voices of the most marginalised and is carried out in collaboration with local partners in government and non-governmental organisations.
We carry out child and youth centred research that is designed and carried out with young people and addresses their priorities.
- Child and youth poverty and inclusion
- Inclusive work in communities using creative practice
- Nature and people, for example exploring socio-cultural perspectives on beavers
- Public sector services, for example our work with the Scottish Prison Service
Consultancy and training
You can engage our experts to work for you on a consultancy basis. By doing this, you can tap into world class expertise to help get the answers you need, all within a commercial relationship. The benefit for us is that this brings us income to help us to expand our work.
Equally, we offer courses and workshops to develop your staff in the following areas –
- Creativity and design thinking
- Building an enterprising mindset
- Engaging presentations and pitching
- Networking for success
- Catalyst programme which offers training to small businesses and sole traders and focusses in 6 key aspects –
- You and your business
- Innovation-led thinking
- Opportunities
- Business models
- Building networks
- Effective leadership and action planning
To discuss your requirements or the various services we offer, please contact us today!
Community engagement and social impact
CLS builds on a form of Participatory Action Research called Community Assessment and Action (CAA), originally developed by colleagues from Development Focus Trust.
CAA is an approach that supports community-driven and intergenerational research processes. It mixes creative participatory methods for engaging with people of different ages, genders and socio-cultural backgrounds with coding systems that help to understand how many people and who support different ideas and actions.
It also creates spaces to connect people in communities with decision-makers and broader stakeholders. Examples include local reference groups where voluntary teams can present their ideas and research evidence and community conversations that engage with people about the research results and action plans.
CAA can reach out to engage with marginalised people and to give them a voice in their own development. It works across communities to acknowledge issues of power and to understand realistic options for action to improve lives, services and sustainability.
Frameworks can be developed to identify local indicators and processes for monitoring social and environmental impact.
We can train teams of local residents, professionals and academics to undertake this type of research for community engagement and to develop systems to understand social impact. We can tailor processes to the needs to the commissioner and the local communities that we work with.
We can also facilitate large expert-led and community meetings.