From February to May 2026, four partner organisations – each representing a different community of people typically underrepresented in research  – led open workshops for our University research community. The workshops provided an opportunity for research staff at all stages to listen and learn together about how to engage meaningfully and ethically with people from underserved communities who often face barriers to inclusion in research. 

Working with people with learning disabilities and/or autism and families and carers is at the heart of our work here at the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory and we were very pleased to collaborate with members of Values Into Action Scotland and members of DIFFERabled as part of the Learn Together project. 

One of the outputs from these workshops is the Learn Together Resource, an open-access, self-guided training course which supports researchers to build skills, knowledge and confidence when engaging and involving community groups in their research. The resource is based on the learning and insights shared by each of the four community partners - British Red Cross VOICES Network, Values Into Action Scotland, DIFFERabled Scotland and Chance 2 Change Scotland, and offers practical guidance and theoretical frameworks to support good practice in research engagement. 

The resource was officially launched on the 1 September at a celebration event held in the Advanced Research Centre at the University of Glasgow. 

Antony Kimani from the Red Cross VOICES network highlighted the importance of the resource from a partner perspective: ‘This project brought us together, researchers and people from underserved communities, to shape how engagement is done. We have given the researchers the tools they need to approach, meaningfully, the people they want to do research with.’

Speaking about the project and the resource, Professor Chris Pearce, Vice-Principal (Research & Knowledge Exchange) at the University of Glasgow said: ‘Learn Together is a fantastic example of ethical and equitable collaboration. Hearing directly from the project partners brought home the collective commitment and goodwill that made this resource possible. How we conduct research matters, and Learn Together is an important tool for supporting meaningful and impactful collaboration between researchers and community partners. Our focus now will be on putting this resource into practice and ensuring it shapes the way we work with our communities.’ 

Learn Together was led by members of the University’s Public and Community and Engagement Group and supported by Glasgow Changing Futures.

Access the Learn Together Resource.