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 [...]

by Jan-Bert van-den Berg Artlink’s Curious Routes is one of the strands of work that inform the ground-breaking REALITIES projects, funded by the UKRI Mobilising Community Assets Programme. Jan-bert van den Berg is the community-embedded researcher for the Edinburgh Hub. Through grassroots creative practice and interaction, we support individuals to share interests that establish networks of wellbeing. These will create a ripple effect of shared experiences that seeks to influence necessary change in how public structures tackle health inequalities.    During the first pandemic lockdown the power of community action came to the fore. Neighbours looked out for each other, communities came together [...]

by Alan Marshall, Kimberly More and Helena Tunstall The characteristics of the neighbourhoods we live in have the potential to impact our health, wellbeing as well as other social outcomes. Existing evidence often focusses on area deprivation with less consideration of positive aspects of community that are valued by residents. Such neighbourhood assets might include access to nature, strong feelings of belonging and trust in neighbours or a willingness to give time for broader social good within the neighbourhood. In response the Index of Community Assets team within REALITIES are working to co-develop, collate, and validate a set of neighbourhood measures on community [...]

Harnessing Nature for Recovery: A collaboration with Ninewells Community Garden Chris Lim, Senior Lecturer in Design and Making Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee As part of REALITIES, Ninewells Community Garden is developing a nature-based activities programme aimed at supporting people in recovery in partnership with academics, particularly a transdisciplinary team at the University of Dundee. Located within a 18th century arboretum on the grounds of Ninewells hospital in Dundee, Ninewells Community Garden (NCG) is a volunteers-led initiative that has been serving the community for over a decade. The idea of a community garden started in [...]

A Blog by Sam Rowe, Creative Expressions Coordinator at Bethany Christian Trust In January 2025, Bethany Christian Trust’s Creative Expressions department began drama workshops in a Scottish Men’s Prison to explore the participants’ experiences of neurodiversity and health/social systems. Our aim is to collectively write a piece of theatre that reflects these experiences, that can later be produced and toured to other prisons, conferences and training events. This project follows on from the work we have been doing in the Scottish Criminal Justice system since 2020 (or 2016, for the departments coordinator prior to joining Bethany). This follows three main strands (i) devised performances [...]

‘In Motion’ podcast is a collaboration between North Lanarkshire Council Community Learning and Development (CLD), New College Lanarkshire and the University of Edinburgh. Students Laila Abdul Kadir, Bócan Romer and Dylan Elliot interviewed participants on CLD summer daytrips on the subject of creative health and barriers to participation, with the goal of developing new projects, events and relationships with communities. Listen.... The Producers “Hi, I’m Laila, a sound student currently taking a gap year to explore various aspects of the field and gain more experience. My interest is in sound design and editing. My work on the [...]

What does it feel like to experiment in ‘a safe space’ that holds multiple REALITIES? Marisa de Andrade, Project Lead for REALITIES reflects on the first ten months of an epic, transdisciplinary UKRI funded consortium dreaming up new systems for a healthier, fairer Scotland and planet. Dissolve tough, inflexible structures through soft, fluid practices “You can just feel yourself levelling out when you step into a space that soothes you, a self-regulated ecosystem,” a psychiatrist tells me as we take tiny steps into a still lake in the middle of December without wetsuits. It’s a balmy five degrees Celsius ‘in here’ – welcome [...]