Five projects receive funding to support public engagement

Digging into Data: Data Journalism for Community Reporters

Greater Govanhill CIC

Funding awarded: £9,650

The Greater Govanhill CIC is a community media project founded in 2020 which aims to challenge stereotypes, break cultural barriers, and unite the community in Glasgow’s Govanhill. They will provide training courses on data journalism skills, equipping participants with the skills to dig into data around issues that they care about, and which also affect other people locally. Participants will also be empowered through community reporter skills to be able to tell these stories, with a particular focus on solutions journalism.

This project has been funded through our pilot community fund which aims to support a community organisation to engage people in data research. In addition to funding, the project will be supported with guidance from RDS data professionals.

Learn more about the 'Digging into Data' project

Data Conversations: What Do We Really Mean by Data?

The SCONe project, University of Edinburgh

Funding awarded: £6,925

The SCONe project aims to improve health outcomes by establishing a comprehensive repository of retinal images from optometry practices across Scotland. Using SCONe as an example, the team will work with the public to break down complex data concepts into tangible examples to explore the implications of using – or not using – health data in research around disease prevention, care and early detection.

Learn more about the 'Data Conversations' project

Sibling Data Cafes for Care Experienced Young People

Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh

Funding awarded: £7,927

This project focuses on new data about sibling relationships of care experienced young people, which will be made available in the next few years as part of Administrative Data Research (ADR) Scotland’s Looked After Children dataset.

The project team, led by Dr Katie Cebula, aims to create a dialogue between care experienced young people and data analysts/researchers, to ensure that care experienced young people understand the sibling data collected about them and how it’s used, that messages are shared appropriately, and future priorities for data use are considered.

The team will run two pop-up ‘Sibling Data Cafes’ for care leavers and their supporters, offering a range of creative activities such as data stories, graffiti boards and ‘postcards to a data analyst’.

Learn more about the 'Sibling Data Cafes' project

Using LEGO® to Discuss Data Science with the Polish Community

University of Stirling

Funding awarded: £3,841

People from ethnic minority groups make up a significant part of the Scottish population, however they are often overlooked in conversations around data science.

Researchers from the University of Stirling are seeking to address this imbalance by leading workshops with Polish people living in Aberdeen, exploring their perspectives on data science and developing new relationships for future projects. The team will use LEGO to break down language barriers, empowering participants to express themselves freely and openly.

Learn more about the project

Why Big Data Matters

Generation Scotland

Funding awarded: £5,970

Generation Scotland is Scotland’s largest family health and wellbeing study with over 40,000 participants, looking to improve health and wellbeing of current and future generations in Scotland. It is a collaboration between the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow with NHS Scotland.

Through a partnership with the University of Glasgow Schools Health and Wellbeing Improvement Research Network (SHINE), Generation Scotland are developing resources for use in schools to engage young people in discussions around health and data research.

Generation Scotland was previously supported by our Public Engagement Fund in 2022-23, where the team connected with members of the public at science festivals and other large-scale events.

Learn more about the 'Why Big Data Matters' project