Remote, Rural & Island Health & Care Research: Foundations to Collaboration

A fully funded online training programme for practitioners in Scotland between October 2025 – March 2026

From September 2025 to March 2026, Community Knowledge Matters developed and delivered a Foundations to Collaboration research training course for remote, rural and island health and care practitioners in Scotland. This free-to-access course was launched on behalf of the NES National Centre for Remote & Rural Health & Care  (which was hosted by NHS Education for Scotland and now folded into Public Services Delivery Scotland.) 

The programme stressed the importance of research being collaborative and co-produced with communities themselves, acknowledging power dynamics and exploring case-studies on navigating ethics and designing creative research methods suitable for rural and/or island contexts. The training programme was designed for remote, rural or island health and care practitioners interested in building research confidence. The programme catered both to those who were brand-new to research as well as to those looking to take the next step toward funded projects and community collaborations. Rooted in Scotland’s remote, rural and island* realities, this programme focused on research designs that can be applied specifically to where practitioners work.

The feedback has been positive, with many of the practitioners now joining the CKM network, and demonstrates the importance of dedicated support for rural, remote and island research. We are excited to share this new report, which details the course structure, impact, and key learnings (including insights on training design) alongside recommendations for future programmes.

Explore the report here

What practitioners gained from participation:

  • How to design collaborative and co-produced fit-for-place studies in remote, rural and island contexts. 

  • How to navigate ethics in small populations, including community-led and locally appropriate approaches. 

  • How to use different research methods well in small population settings. 

  • How to identify funding routes and practical next steps. 

  • Ideas on how to publish and share your findings with impact for boards, practices and communities. 

What did the programme involve?

Live online training exploring the whole process involved in remote, rural and island research

Hear more about the programme directly in this recording from the Information Session

Every month starting in October, we hosted a live online training session introducing and delving into the end-to-end research process - from what research can look like, ethical research especially in rural contexts and more participatory and creative approaches, community co-development, analysis and publication and dissemination. These sessions were approached through a mix of theory, practice, real case-studies and discussion including with guests drawing from a wide range of community and practice expertise. 

For those who weren’t able to join specific sessions, the content was recorded with activities and worksheets for them to be able to catch up flexibly. 

The programme and dates were as follows:

8 October: Foundations of Collaborative Research in Remote, Rural & Island (RRI) Settings

5 November: Ethics in Rural Research 

3 December: Survey Design and Interviews in Small Populations

14 January: Creative, Participatory & Place-Based Research

11 February: Funding and Next Steps for RRI Projects 

11 March: Publication and Dissemination With/In RRI Communities.

Facilitated and flexible Peer Support 
Alongside the training sessions, there were also separate online peer sessions and spaces to help deepen participant understanding of the course content and apply it to their own practice and context, getting to know and sharing ideas with training peers. This included monthly online Communities of Practice which provided more time to go over the training materials from the month - including a space for those who may have missed the training sessions live to ask their own questions - and bring additional specialist support to delve deeper where needed. 

The training programme was designed to give the cohort the confidence and tools to undertake their own research activities. There were specific sessions and support available to highlight “next step” opportunities including further study, applying for funding to support a research project through The National Centre and wider, and how practitioners can develop meaningful collaboration and partnerships with communities through the wider Community Knowledge Matters network. 

Read the programme report here
 

If you have any questions and want to hear more see the FAQS below. You can also watch more about the programme from the recording information session below.

If you would like further information or to be updated about future cohorts of this training programme, please contact lewis@scienceceilidh.com, sophie@scienceceilidh.com or alexia@scienceceilidh.com.

 

Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs

  • This training programme was designed for health and care practitioners who are working and/or interested in research in remote, rural and/or island contexts*. Participants did not need to have any research experience to date and this training provided a strong introduction. For those who have more experience, this programme provided specific opportunities to widen their research experiences and explore new approaches including more community based, co-productive and participatory approaches.

    *We acknowledge the language of “remote”. “rural” and/or “island” doesn’t always resonate with everyone

  • Yes. Every session included use and/or discussion of RRI examples.

  • Science Ceilidh is a social enterprise which supports cultural and knowledge democracy across Scotland. They have a particular interest in participatory, creative and community-based research approaches and have delivered many projects, programmes and training sessions across the research, cultural and community learning and development sectors. They support the Ideas Fund which was a participatory grant scheme supporting communities to lead research around mental wellbeing across the Highlands and Islands. Drawing on this experience, they also coordinate the Community Knowledge Matters network which is supporting and advocating for more community-led research across rural and island Scotland, including development of new infrastructure such as community-led ethics processes, building connectivity through network spaces, and approaches, and will be drawing from this to help inform the training programme. You may also be interested in joining the network here. 

  • The National Centre for Remote & Rural Health & Care’s (which was hosted by NHS Education for Scotland and now folded into Public Services Delivery Scotland)  goal was to support the delivery of improved care for remote, rural and island communities across Scotland; to reduce remote, rural and island health and wellbeing inequalities; and to achieve this through focused work on improving the sustainability, capacity, and capability of remote, rural and island Primary care and community-based workforce and service delivery. The Centre was funded by the Scottish Government and embedded within NHS Education for Scotland (NES). 

    This training programme was funded by the National Centre as part of its goal to increase professional support and development opportunities relating to research, evaluation, publication and professional development for remote, rural and island practitioners within Scotland. Funding of this scheme also supports the Centre’s goal of building the remote, rural and island specific primary and community health evidence base for Scotland. This National Centre workstream is being led by Professor Sarah-Anne Munoz and Dr Carrie Walton.