What Happened This Month | January 2026
Published: 6 February 2026
January brings a full diary for SCAF, with new activities opening up space for writing, collaboration and funding conversations; 2026 will offer many opportunities for growth and for connections.
Building on the NNEdPro Summit in December, SCAF and NNEdPro have now signed a collaborative agreement. This strategic collaboration will support the development of joint activities in food, nutrition and health, extending the connections made at the Dundee event and opening pathways for shared projects across our networks, in Scotland and beyond.
Several new events and opportunities also opened for the network. These include the online networking meeting on 3 March; the ECN media training in Glasgow (17-18 March); and the announcement of the SCAF Data Aggregator, which launched officially at the start of February. Dates are now live to help members plan ahead.
In particular, we launched two new residential writing retreats (the March retreat at Loch Insh Outdoor Centre (9-12 March) and the June retreat at SCENE (1-4 June)). These build directly on what we learned from the most recent retreats: demand for structured writing time is not going away. You can read reflections here. The upcoming retreats will again focus on protected time, peer accountability, and informal exchange as a way to move key outputs, from papers to proposals, over the line. Keep an eye out for details about how to apply for the June retreat, coming soon.
On the funding side, there are important shifts. There have been discussions among several UKRI councils about pausing responsive-mode funding for at least 6 months, with knock-on effects on how and when projects are developed. At the same time, UKRI BBSRC/Defra have launched a new “Diet and health: collaborative research and development grants” call, focused on R&D for healthy, sustainable and resilient diets in the UK. Themes in scope span biofortification, reformulation and processing to improve nutritional value and affordability, consumer behaviour and drivers of food choice, and resilience of food systems and supply chains. With the mandatory notification of intent stage closing on 3 March 2026, this is a good opportunity for SCAF members to organise and prepare strong applications. We will be sharing further information on how SCAF will support members in forming teams.
For SCAF, these developments underline two parallel needs. First, to create spaces, like the retreats and training days, where people can step back from day-to-day pressures and work through ideas with others. Second, to help convene teams around strategic opportunities such as the new diet and health call, for example, through focused mini-sandpit sessions. The aim is to support members in navigating a shifting funding landscape while continuing to build connections across Scotland’s food and nutrition community and with teams in other parts of the UK.
First published: 6 February 2026