Events

We have a lunchtime seminar series featuring our own researchers and invited speakers from academic, policy and third sector organisations. These seminars take place throughout the year and are open to students, staff and the general public.
We also organise and participate in various talks, workshops, debates, conferences and festivals to share our research and connect with people beyond academia.
Please sign up to our mailing list to be kept informed of upcoming events.
Places and children's health workshop - 3rd May 2023
Date and time: Wednesday 3rd May, 10am-4pm
Venue: The Advanced Research Centre (ARC), 11 Chapel Lane, University of Glasgow. The ARC is a short walk from Hillhead and Kelvinhall subway stations and Partick is the nearest train station. Find the ARC on Google Maps and check ARC accessibility
Please register on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/places-and-childrens-health-workshop-tickets-545939207867
We know that the places in which children live, play and move shape their current and future health. For example:
- Access to local parks and woodlands influences children’s play, physical activity levels and mental health.
- Neighbourhood infrastructure can support or constrain children’s active travel to school, leisure facilities, healthcare settings and other amenities.
- Exposure to alcohol, tobacco outlets or unhealthy food and drinks advertisements can depend on the socioeconomic characteristics of where you live.
We might not realise it, but by understanding more about the role of place in children’s lives, we can start to influence and advocate for population level policy change that improves our built, natural and social environment to enhance the health of children in Scotland.
This participatory workshop is designed for policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and other professionals whose work or interests lie in understanding how children’s movement, mobility and experience of place can act as a lever to improving child health and reducing inequalities.
Programme
9.30-10am | Registration |
10-10.15am | Welcome and housekeeping - Prof Rich Mitchell, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit |
10.15-11.30am |
Session 1 chaired by Dr Jon Olsen, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit Presentation 1 - "Taking a place-based approach to tackling children's health and inequalities" - Susan Rintoul, Shaping Places for Wellbeing Project Lead (Dalkeith), Improvement Service Presentation 2 - "The SPACES study: Harnessing the value of wearable technology and GUS data linkage to explore the impact of the built, natural, and social environment on young people's health and wellbeing" - Dr Paul McCrorie, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit Presentation 3 - "Measuring childhood and family life in Scotland: an overview of the Growing Up in Scotland study" - Dr Paul Bradshaw, Director, Scottish Centre for Social Research Presentation 4 - "Increasing impact by connecting policy, research and practice" - Aidan Gallacher, CEO, Actify CIC Panel discussion facilitated by Dr Jon Olsen and Dr Avril Johnstone |
11.30-11.45am | Tea and coffee break |
11.45-12.45pm |
Breakout room 1 - Physical activity, active travel and play. Facilitated by Avril Johnstone, Ollie Traynor and Actify. Breakout room 2 - Mental health. Facilitated by Paul McCrorie and Christian Masters. Breakout room 3 - 20 minute neighbourhoods. Facilitated by Jon Olsen and Jonathan Stokes. Breakout room 4 - Exposure to unhealthy commodities. Facilitated by Fi Caryl, Laura Macdonald and Rich Mitchell. |
12.45-1.45pm | Lunch |
1.45-3.15pm | Breakout rooms continued |
3.15-3.50pm |
Short tea and coffee break Plenary session facilitated by Jon Olsen, Paul McCrorie and Avril Johnstone |
3.50-4pm | Close - Prof Rich Mitchell |
Speakers
Susan Rintoul is the Project Lead for Dalkeith on the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme at the Improvement Service. The programme aims to improve Scotland's wellbeing by reducing the significant inequality in the health of its people while addressing the health of the planet. Susan's work involves supporting decision makers in local authorities and their partners to work collaboratively on place-based approaches.
Paul McCrorie is a Research Fellow at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow. Paul’s work primarily explores the built, natural, and social environmental determinants of health and wellbeing in children and young people, including physical activity levels and behaviours. Paul has expertise in the use of accelerometry and GPS and is the lead researcher on SPACES, having managed the project since its inception in 2013.
Paul Bradshaw is Director of the Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen), an independent, not-for-profit research institute and the Scottish arm of the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen). In a research career of over 20 years, Paul has worked on a wide range of studies involving quantitative and qualitative methods and across a number of policy areas. However, his principal research role over this time has been associated with the management and development of the Growing Up in Scotland study, which he has led since the study’s launch in 2005. In recent years he has also managed several high-profile Scottish and UK wide survey projects at NatCen, including a number of prominent longitudinal projects such as the 1970 British Cohort Study and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Paul is also part of the wider scientific team delivering the UK Early Life Cohort feasibility study.
Aidan Gallacher is the CEO of Actify, a social enterprise based in Glasgow that helps physical activity and sport organisations learn, share and connect through the Actify platform and training programmes. Actify plays a unique role in the sport and physical activity sector in Scotland, working closely with organisations across policy, research and practice. Partners include the Scottish Government, a number of leading universities and a wide range of public and third sector organisations that deliver play, sport and physical activity provision at a regional and local level. Aidan has been involved with a range of sports and activities throughout his life however active, outdoor play is still his favourite.
Lunchtime seminars
Our lunchtime seminars are held from 1-2pm, both in-person on UofG campus, and online via Zoom.
If you would like to attend, please contact sphsu-seminars@glasgow.ac.uk
Date | Speaker | Title |
---|---|---|
08/06/2023 |
Cristiani Machado, Fiocruz, Brazil |
Challenges for health policy coordination in Latin American federations: the response to Covid-19 in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico |
05/04/2023 |
Ariany Marques Vieira, Concordia University |
Advancing the science of Rapid Reviews' methods |
08/03/2023 |
Jessica Dobrovic, University of Adelaide |
Using linked administrative data to inform evidence-based interventions and assess system relationships: a homelessness service example |
30/05/2022 |
Christian Tetteh, visiting postgraduate researcher from NM-AIST, Arusha, Tanzania |
Development, feasibility and potential effectiveness of community-based continuous mass dog vaccination delivery strategies: lessons for optimization and replication |
08/12/2021 |
Professor Anthony Costello, co-chair of the Lancet Countdown and Professor of Global Health and Sustainable Development, UCL Dr Marina Romanello, Research Director of the Lancet Countdown and Research Fellow at UCL |
Lancet Countdown: Tracking progress on health and climate change |
30/11/2021 |
Dr Lindsay Jaacks, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Chancellors Fellow Global Challenges, University of Edinburgh |
Health co-benefits of organic farming |
23/09/2021 |
Dr Corinna Elsenbroich |
Embracing social complexity |
09/09/2021 |
Professor Alison Heppenstall |
Using agent-based models to simulate social systems |
10/12/2020 |
Dr Lauren Powell, Dept of Clinical Sciences & Advanced Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA |
The effects of dog ownership on human mental well-being |
19/11/2020 |
Professor Laurence Moore, Professor Sharon Simpson, Dr Jo Inchley, Dr Eric Silverman |
Research in the SPHSU Complexity programme |
05/11/2020 |
Professor Rich Mitchell |
Research in the SPHSU Places programme |
28/10/2020 |
Dr Vittal Katikireddi, Dr Claire Niedwiedz |
Ethnic inequalities in COVID-19: What do we know so far? |
03/09/2020 |
Professor Alastair Leyland, Professor Peter Craig, Dr Michael Green, Dr Lia Demou, Dr Vittal Katikireddi |
Research on COVID-19 in the Inequalities programme |
04/06/2020 |
Professor Petra Meier, University of Sheffield |
Systems Science in Public Health and Health Economic Research - an Introduction to the work of the SIPHER Consortium |
11/05/2020 |
Jeremy Hilton VR CEng, Principal Research Fellow in Complex Systems at Cranfield University |
Putting empiricism in context; the benefits of critical realism within systems thinking |
Webinars
Date | Speakers | Title |
---|---|---|
03/03/2021 |
Carrie Purcell, Karen Maxwell, Fiona Bloomer, Sam Rowlands and Lesley Hoggart |
SASS Website and Briefing Launch Seminar |
News
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01 AugNew research shows, for the first time, a higher risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation or death for the White Gypsy/Traveller ethnic minority group.
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20 Jul
Disrupted access to healthcare during pandemic linked to avoidable hospital admi
Findings highlight need for increasing healthcare investment to tackle short and long term implications of covid-19 pandemic.
