by Toby Lowe, Professor of Public Management at Manchester Metropolitan University and REALITIES Consortium member I’ve been advising the REALITIES project since its very initial stages, meaning that Project Lead Marisa and I have probably had more conversations about “learning” than either of us cares to think about. One of the brilliant aspects of the way that REALITIES is structured is that the Community Embedded Researchers (CERs) are people who are doing the work on the ground, in their contexts. As Shona Ulrichsen highlighted in a previous blog, this means that learning (or more formally, “research” ) isn’t separate from the day job, [...]

This output is part of the legacy work from the AHRC's place-based programme. On May 19th, the webinar The Value of Toolkits and the Issue of Scalability took place online. Bringing together researchers, practitioners, and policy voices from across sectors, the event saw a fantastic turnout, with 70 attendees joining to learn more about the development, use, and impact of toolkits in research and practice. The session featured four presentations, each offering different perspectives on how toolkits can support collaboration across academic, policy, and community contexts, while also highlighting their limitations and challenges. Alongside discussions of practical application, presentations explored wider themes of [...]

Beyond Groupthink: Tips for Thriving in Interdisciplinary Teams by Kimberly R More University of St Andrews REALITIES Early-Career Researcher, Index of Community Assets workstream Groupthink is a story as old as time, and I’m sure you’ve encountered it. It happens when a group prioritizes harmony over honesty and conforms to the status quo instead of questioning alternatives. This usually leads to poor decisions. Sometimes groupthink is relatively harmless, like settling on the same lunch spot yet again, but when it surfaces in working groups, organizations, or government, it can create an echo chamber where alternative and often better solutions are pushed aside to [...]

By Deborah McArthur Deborah McArthur is North Lanarkshire Council’s Arts Development and Engagement Manager, as well as the community-embedded researcher for REALITIES North Lanarkshire Hub. This hub is foundational hub of the project which began with Art is Everywhere (also known as Phase 1 of REALITIES), funded by the AHRC’s Place-Based Programme. I’m not a researcher. I wouldn’t say I’m very academic. My interest is in people and building meaningful relationships. My background is in the arts, specifically in participatory arts practice, and even more specifically drama and theatre. Creativity is the tool I use for connection, reflection, and change. It enables me [...]

By Andrea Rodriguez Lecturer of Dental Public Health and Social Psychology, School of Dentistry, University of Dundee REALITIES researcher ‘Are you the researcher, or are you a participant like me?’ I heard this question from a participant on the first day of the 6-week Flourish programme led by Ninewells Community Garden for the Dundee hub. The programme was co-designed with health and social care practitioners, and participants were referred from recovery services.  On a beautiful and sunny day in June, I entered in the woods walking fast towards the garden, with my mind concentrated on my tasks for the day. While going through [...]

By Kata Cots Pettit 30.06.2025… Part 1: The Fire In the frosty month of January, I returned to Edinburgh for a visit after fifteen years since I had lived there. I attended ECQI2025 hosted this year by the Centre for Creative Relational Inquiry and the University of Edinburgh. While I was present at ECQI2025, a rush of fire was overtaking my family friends’ Altadena, California home. They had lived there since 1989. On my first day in Edinburgh, before the Altadena and Pacific Palisades fires, I attended a REALITIES workshop with Dr. Marisa de Andrade on producing research through magical realism as advocacy [...]

By Alexandra Jundler Amidst the reading, writing and researching that takes up much of my time as a research fellow for REALITIES, the administrative bureaucracy is pervasive in a way that always seems a bit surprising. Beyond emails and scheduling, the bureaucratic system of a university (or across institutions depending on the issue) is a particular puzzle to behold. One of the main purposes of REALITIES is to reimagine health and social systems to better address health inequalities across Scotland. Yet, a big part of reimagining this is navigating the various academic institutions and systems – which at some point perhaps likewise need [...]

by Scott Davis Each weekend, I slip my handheld radio onto my belt loop and begin work at my local authority’s leisure centre reception desk. The job helps to supplement my part-time post-doctoral university position, with the bonus of keeping me close to what’s happening on the ground in my local Drylaw community, and nearby Pilton and Craigleith. Every Saturday morning, between the sporadic rushes of parents dropping off their kids for weekly swim lessons, a politically minded colleague and I find time to enter into a weekly ritual of confiding shared feelings of frustration and powerlessness over the wider societal problems affecting [...]