Impact Festival lecture

Over the course of three days and 25 events, staff from across the University learned about their colleagues’ experiences engaging with industry, communities, policy-makers, the media, artists and practitioners to maximise the benefits of research.  

The festival was brought to a close with a ‘Celebrating Impact’ event where researchers, teams and partnerships received prizes in recognition of their outstanding engagement and research impact activities.

Anne Sofie Laegran, Head of Research Impact, said: “The Impact Festival has highlighted some fantastic examples of how research is making a real difference in the world that we hope will inspire others to start or further their impact journey.”

Dr Sarah McGeown, one of the winners of the Sustained Partnership Award, and Co-Deputy Director of Research, Knowledge Exchange and Impact and Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, explained:

“Children and young people’s reading attitudes and volitional reading are at an all-time low, despite the rich and diverse benefits associated with reading books. To address this urgent and important issue, I have been working in close partnership with colleagues from the Scottish Book Trust and the National Literacy Trust. Our collaborative research has been funded by Nuffield Foundation, Leverhulme Trust, ESRC, Education Endowment Foundation and the University of Edinburgh.

Our research has resulted in 10 plus co-authored journal articles and one mini-book, five joint conference symposium/talks, blogposts, resources and programmes for teachers, children and/or young people.  

The success of our sustained partnership is our shared passion and commitment to improving children and young people’s experiences with books. We have developed very positive and productive partnerships, characterised by trust and a desire to support each other, recognising the benefits of bringing together our diverse knowledge, experience and expertise.”

Supports Sustainable Development Goals:  

4. Quality Education

9. Industry innovation and infrastructure

10. Reduced inequalities