Scotland’s Community of Access and Participation Practitioners (SCAPP) invites you to join a conversation between members of the widening access and participation network and the research community.

Background

SCAPP was established as a result of a number of recommendations resulting from the Commission for Wider Access (CoWA) which reported in 2015. One key development was the establishment of the Scottish Framework for Fair Access. The Framework launched in May 2019, seeks to support practitioners and research professionals engaged in access activity to identify, plan, and evaluate activities for widening access.  

The aim of SCAPP is to provide a practitioners’ network to support the development and professionalisation of a strong widening access and participation community in Scotland. SCAPP aims to be inclusive with a focus on supporting those directly engaged in delivery, with the purpose of embedding, enhancing, and supporting effective practice in Scotland. 

A key objective for SCAPP is to ensure widening participation practitioners have access to up-to-date evidence of the impact of activity to inform their work and to share practice in the effective use of evidence to improve implementation and evaluation strategies. 

SCAPP is looking to foster relationships between research, evaluation, and practitioner communities in widening participation and to explore opportunities where professionals can work collaboratively for mutual benefit.

We are hosting an event on Wednesday 27 January 202 10 am – 11.30 am. This event aims to bring together key members of the widening access and participation network and the research community.

Key items to be covered at the event are:

• Introduction to the widening access community and activity. An update on the policy drivers and publications such as Commission for Widening Access report;
• Introduction to the research and evaluation community. Discussing areas of interest and the mutual benefits of working collaboratively with widening access practitioners;
• Discussion group activity to consider:
  • What would you like to do to be involved?
  • What can the two communities learn from each other?
  • How can the communities work together collaboratively for mutual benefit and how to make this engagement sustainable?
  • Exploring incentives to work together e.g. joint publications, securing funding for research.

If you are interested in attending this introductory event please contact Muriel Alexander at SCAPP [email protected]  and respond by Friday 18 December 2020

If you feel that this event may be of interest to other colleagues engaged in widening access and participation research, please pass on this information.

For more information about SCAPP and the Scottish Framework for Fair Access see www.fairaccess.scot.