On 23 October 2023, we took part in the official Scottish Funding Council’s launch of the Alliances for Research Challenges at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. With our Alliance Director presenting evidence to a Westminster enquiry same day, Dr Faye Wade, our Sustainable Households theme co-lead, presented the vision for our Alliance, saying:
“Reality is that a net zero society can only happen if we bring everyone on board. To do this, we need to meet people where they are. Understand their lives. Listen to their voices. Learn from their experiences. We need to see households as place-based, diverse, and with the potential to be active agents in Scotland’s net zero future. This is the starting point for our Alliance.”
Dr Faye Wade
“Our goal is to build an exciting, innovative, and impactful research environment that has a clear line of sight to policy priorities, and help transform Scotland’s households into crucial agents of change for an equitable Net Zero society.”
Alongside our Alliance, the SFC is funding three other alliances, all based at the University of Glasgow: the Scottish Alliance for Food, the Brain Health Alliance, and the Quantum Technologies Alliance. Over the next four years, the ARCs aim to:
- Coordinate the research community across disciplines, institutions and sectors
- Leverage additional funding into our system
- Connect Scottish Government priorities with areas of strength within our publicly funded research system
Check out the SFC video from the event to learn more about the Alliances!
Overall, the launch event provided a fantastic opportunity for the invited guests to learn more about the ARCs, their role within the Scottish research and innovation ecosystem, and their plans for the future. We look forward to working with the other three ARCs and co-organising events on areas of shared interest, including equality, diversity and inclusion, early career researchers, funding challenges, and interdisciplinarity in our respective fields!
