Partnership Working and Education for Sustainability

In 2025, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) signed a ‘Strategic Collaboration Agreement’. Working together, they will design and deliver new skills in new ways, using technology and data to design and deliver innovative education, training and learning.

This innovative new partnership will focus on key areas of career development such as:

• identifying opportunities to develop skills that staff have right now

• designing and delivering flexible workplace-based learning that adapts to the needs of health and social care learners

• enabling more on-the-job learning through bite-sized ‘micro-credential’ learning, graduate apprenticeships and new kinds of continuous professional development

Professor James Miller, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of UWS said of the agreement:

The University of the West of Scotland is committed to creating and removing barriers to educational opportunities across all the communities we serve. With new technologies and breakthroughs in clinical research, education is vital for healthcare and social care regionally, nationally and globally. Patients and staff rightly expect care and treatment that keeps pace with the technologies of today, not simply repeating the approaches of the past. Healthcare delivery is changing too. This partnership allows us to pool our educational and workforce expertise, to deliver a revolution in health and social care education.”

NES Deputy Chief Executive & Executive Director of Nursing, Karen Wilson said: 

NES provides education, training, workforce development, data and technology for health and social care in Scotland. We help people who work in this area to get the education and skills they need to provide good quality care for people in Scotland. Our work affects every person in every community in Scotland.

The world changes quickly. We need to prepare and shape the workforce for the future and the changes in health and social care that we all need to improve people’s health.”

One of the key objectives of the extended partnership is to create tailored educational and professional development programmes aimed at addressing recruitment and retention challenges in the healthcare workforce. Joint appointments and enhanced input into teaching programmes will help ensure that academic expertise remains aligned with the evolving needs of the healthcare sector.

The partnership will also promote collaborative clinical research, with both organisations working on joint grant applications to fund research projects that improve clinical practices and patient outcomes. These efforts will focus on addressing critical healthcare challenges and contribute to the broader goal of creating more integrated care services.

The UWS-Oxfam Partnership is an innovative model of research and knowledge exchange between the University of the West of Scotland and Oxfam Scotland, an NGO dedicated to the eradication of poverty.

The Partnership was launched in 2012 after years of successful collaborations between the University and Oxfam Scotland. The development of Oxfam’s UK Poverty Programme in Scotland and its Our Economy report, with input from UWS researchers, were significant milestones for the establishment of the Partnership.

The Partnership continues to bring together academic expertise from UWS and the social justice and anti-poverty campaigning strengths of Oxfam Scotland and seeks to collaborate with civil society organisations to conduct research to inform policy. Its activities seek to promote a more equitable and sustainable Scotland. The Partnership’s work is closely aligned with supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals), SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 8 (Inclusive Growth and Decent Work) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

Under the umbrella of the Partnership, the impact of public policies on equality, sustainability and poverty in Scotland have been critically examined. The overarching aim of the Partnership’s diverse activities has been to inform the public debate about the future of Scotland.

The Partnership’s agenda is led by its Policy Forum which regularly invites stakeholders to discuss and challenge existing ideas and policies. These discussions also feed into Oxfam Scotland’s work.

Visit the UWS-Oxfam Partnership Dedicated Website

Launched in 2017, Vision Schools Scotland is delivered by the School of Education and Social Sciences at UWS, in partnership with the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Its aims are to create a national schools’ network of good practice in Holocaust education and to support primary and secondary teachers in their teaching and learning about the Holocaust through accrediting schools, sharing good practice and developing professional learning opportunities.

A Vision School is a school committed to the view that learning about the Holocaust is a vital part of young people’s education. To become a Vision School, schools demonstrate a sustainable commitment to the importance of Holocaust education and to continued professional development in the Holocaust and its related issues. There are currently 30 Vision Schools in Scotland.

Vision Schools Scotland supports the promotion of the UN SDGs, particularly SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; SDG 4: Quality Education; and SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals; and promotes, respects, and protects the rights of children and young people in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Visit the Vision School Scotland Webpages

UWS and Ayrshire College have signed a strategic partnership agreement to address local skills and training needs. The partnership commits both institutions to work collaboratively to address current and future economic opportunities across Ayrshire.

Both partners will work together to develop a vision for regional skills: one that will have wide ranging benefits for staff, students and the wider community. A key component of this is a focus on delivering a comprehensive skills portfolio in areas of strategic importance within the Ayrshire Growth Deal and Regional Economic Strategy, including digital, healthcare and nursing, creative industries and enterprise. 

The agreement underscores the mutual intent of Ayrshire College and UWS to work closely together to cultivate a vibrant and sustainable tertiary education provision for Ayrshire to meet current needs as well as the innovation required to grow the regional economy. This will include developing the workforce across the organisations and working together on facility and service development to deliver an efficient and joined-up presence across Ayrshire.  

Angela Cox, Principal and Chief Executive of Ayrshire College, highlighted the ambition behind the partnership:

This newly formalised partnership between the University of the West of Scotland and Ayrshire College is firmly focused on the needs and aspirations of the people of Ayrshire and in strengthening the role we play as anchor institutions locally."

Professor James Miller, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of UWS, said: 

Ayrshire College and UWS are both committed to Ayrshire and proud of what we both contribute to the area. We both share an ambition to play an even-greater role, by working together and fulfilling the needs of people, businesses and organisations across the region.” 

This agreement will enable both institutions to jointly plan ahead to deliver a comprehensive and integrated regional skills portfolio for the people and employers of Ayrshire now and in the future. It will deliver joined up provision across the region which reflects local priorities and future trends, driving economic growth and prosperity for local people. 

Both organisations have also formed a new partnership between with Phoenix Software, focusing on advancements in artificial intelligence, cyber security and technological innovation set to transform the institutions’ education programmes. These innovative joint initiatives will help UWS and Ayrshire College roadmap, implement and scale AI responsibly, developing best practices and shared learning across both institutions.

Meanwhile, students and staff will benefit from digital workshops, training sessions, and information events, with emphasis on latest tools from Microsoft and other leading technology platforms, giving students the skills needed when it comes to navigating the workplace.

A project led by University of the West of Scotland (UWS) scientists is set to transform shrimp farming in Southeast Asia by developing low-cost, early-warning monitoring systems to improve sustainability in one of the region’s most vital industries. Backed by the International Science Partnership Funds (ISPF) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the £3,038,104 grant project brings together leading scientists from UWS, Can Tho University in Vietnam, Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology in Thailand, University of Strathclyde, and the James Hutton Institute.

The three-year project, aims to arm small-scale shrimp farmers with affordable tools to monitor water quality, detect pathogens, and predict environmental threats in real-time. Shrimp farming, a major economic driver in Vietnam and Thailand, provides millions of jobs and contributes significantly to global seafood exports. However, disease outbreaks and environmental challenges cost the industry billions of dollars every year. Existing monitoring technologies are often too expensive or complex for small farmers, leaving them vulnerable to sudden losses.

UWS’s Professor Kath Sloman, who will lead the project, explained the significance of the research:

The aquaculture sector in Southeast Asia is vital for livelihoods and food security, yet small-scale farmers face huge challenges in managing disease and water quality. Our project will co-develop accessible, low-cost biosensors and climate models to empower farmers with real-time data, allowing them to act before disease strikes. This is about boosting resilience, increasing productivity, and ensuring sustainability.”

The project will combine the local knowledge of shrimp farmers with expertise in biosensing technology, climate modelling, aquatic health, and artificial intelligence. The team is working on a hand-held sensor that can quickly detect pathogens and harmful nitrogen levels in pond water, alongside an AI-driven prediction tool that uses climate data to forecast disease risks.

By working closely with local farmers, researchers are ensuring that the tools developed are not just scientifically advanced, but also practical, affordable, and easy to use. This research has the potential to drastically reduce shrimp mortality rates thereby increasing yields and improving economic indicators for local communities. The study will also pioneer gender-inclusive approaches to aquaculture, ensuring that both men and women in the industry benefit from training and technology adoption. While the project focuses on shrimp farming in Vietnam and Thailand, the technology involved is highly adaptable and can be transferred to similar aquaculture systems across Southeast Asia and beyond. 

UWS is involved in a groundbreaking early warning system for extreme weather events in South Africa. The project, titled ‘Warning system for Extreme weather events, Awareness Technology for Healthcare, Equitable delivery, and Resilience (WEATHER),’ is a multi-partner collaboration involving University of the West of Scotland (UWS); University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN); the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery; and the University of Portsmouth.

The project partners have been awarded a pivotal grant of more than £2 million from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to develop the system. The project focuses on two vulnerable districts in KwaZulu-Natal, eThekwini and Ugu, collaborating closely with local communities and healthcare providers throughout the research process. Using cutting-edge technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the WEATHER project will develop a comprehensive warning system tailored to the needs of affected communities. Geospatial technologies will collate weather and climate data while AI algorithms will analyse weather, climate, and health data to identify patterns and trends which allow for more accurate predictions of flooding and associated health risks. Additionally, AI-powered tools will continuously monitor and assess flood risks in real-time, enabling swift interventions to minimise disease outbreaks. Warnings will be shared through a mobile app providing more detailed information, maps, and resources tailored to specific locations and needs and through SMS text messages, ensuring widespread reach even in areas with limited internet access. By integrating AI and digital technologies into the warning system, healthcare systems and vulnerable communities will be empowered with real-time predictive information about extreme weather events and associated disease outbreaks, giving them the time, they need to prepare and reduce the harm from extreme events.

Paper: “Mobilising research, innovation and enterprise in the Scottish waste sector and its capacity to improve SDG performance.”

Following the conference, a further peer reviewed publication was published (this can be viewed here). There continues to be active research in this area, and this work will contribute to UWS REF2029 impact case study.

Paper: “Children’s participation in research and society – an inter-disciplinary enquiry”

Academic and PhD students involved in this project presented their research at the SERA conference 2024 in Dundee.

Paper: “The Social Work practitioner role and the multifaceted challenges posed by the environmental crisis”.

At the conference initial findings from this research project were discussed, this has subsequently been published in the The British Journal of Social Work.

The research study was replicated by an academic in Austria which led to Conference presentation at European Conference on Social Work Education (Salzburg). UWS academics, working with two academics from Austria and South Africa, created the Environmental Social Work and Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaption Special Interest Group (SIG), affiliated with the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA).

Paper: “Questioning Sustainability Ontologies: A Dialogue with the Sàmi Philosophy of Kinship”

UWS academics involved in this paper coedited a special issue of Education in The North. Weaving worlds and grounding knowledge: the collective conception of research paradigms in community collaborations | Journal | The University of Aberdeen and Volume 29(2) Sustainability, environment, and co-production: braided with frayed ends | Journal | The University of Aberdeen

Paper: “Examining the role of Scotland's enterprising universities, towards achieving SDG focussed social equality and economic outcomes.”

Following the conference, one of the UWS academics involved in this paper was invited to guest edit a related special issue journal call with the Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice (JPAAP), titled: 'The responsive role of the enterprising university to national skills development: Pedagogies, practices, and partnerships'. This call led to a guest editorial and publishing of the paper in 2025.

Furthermore, this work along with prior data collection led to the submission to a 'call for evidence' and this evidence has been cited in the Business and Trade Committee's Small Business Strategy report (2026).

Paper: “Poverty stigma and socioeconomic inequalities in mental health”

Work on poverty stigma has now been published

Paper: “The ‘Hidden’ Problem with Drug Use in Scotland: A Mixed Method Investigation into the Increasing Rates of Drug Use in Older Women.”

There are two publications from the work presented at the ESS SDG,

• Systematic review: The relationship between gabapentinoids, etizolam, and drug related deaths in Scotland | PLOS One

• Exploring Scottish addiction services: provider-based stigma, addiction aetiology beliefs, treatment bias, and burnout among addiction treatment providers | Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy | Springer Nature Link

Paper: “Inequality and drug-related deaths: Integrating a social determinants analysis into policy development in Scotland and internationally”

The paper was published: ‘Drug-related deaths among young people in a Scottish region: a socio-ecological autopsy approach to understanding the context of drug deaths’.

The lead academic hosted UWS Harm Reduction Futures Conference November 2024 with attendance and feedback from practitioners, policy makers and people with lived experience and participated in the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs annual meeting in Vienna in March 2026.

The lead academic also co-organised a public engagement event on this theme at the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP) conference (June 2025) in collaboration with the Drugs, Policy, and Social Change research group at the Manchester Metropolitan University. The event was attended by c100 policy makers, practitioners, and researchers from across the UK and internationally.

The academic was also invited to present on this theme on a series of Central European conferences (in Brno, 2024; Brussels, 2025; Prague, 2026) to European policymakers, EUDA representatives, health policy specialists and advocates, mental health services providers, NGOs to advance addiction and mental health policy.

Paper: “SDG-Driven Internationalisation: Transforming Scottish Higher Education for Social Impact.”

Academic published a book chapter titled “Resilience and Internationalisation in Higher Education: Overcoming Barriers to Global Engagement in Scottish Higher Education.” The chapter considers some of the challenges facing internationalisation and global engagement in Scottish higher education, with a particular focus on resilience and overcoming barriers.