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Collaborative Artwork Description: an audio description workshop for artists
Learning Fund Case Study: Scottish Artists Union (SAU) - Highlands and Islands
The Scottish Artists Union Highlands and Islands learning project delivered ‘Collaborative Artwork Description: an audio description workshop for artists’ as a two-hour online workshop in August 2025.
Guided by blind writer, poet, and researcher Joseph Rizzo-Naudi, participants explored collaborative, blindness-led approaches to beholding, describing, and communicating artworks. The course developed learners’ knowledge of disabled-led art practice and accessible approaches, equipping them with the tools to reach a wider audience and commit to inclusive art practice by being able to provide their audience with audio descriptions of their artworks, installations and exhibitions. This learning had the added benefit of improving employability and relationships with potential employers, as galleries and arts organisations must provide inclusive and accessible exhibitions in line with equality, diversity, and inclusion policies.
September National Initiatives - Adult Learners’ Week | Maths Week Scotland | Scotland’s Climate Week | Dyslexia Awareness Week Scotland
Here is a list of upcoming dates for national initiatives. Participation in these initiatives can help raise awareness, strengthen our communities, and contribute to meaningful change.
Adult Learners’ Week Scotland
7 September – 13 September 2026
Celebrates lifelong learning, boosting skills, and community education.
Search online for local community and council initiatives, and regional taster sessions.
Maths Weeks Scotland – Maths Matters
19 September – 27 September 2026
Events and activities that promote a love for mathematics.
Scotland’s Climate Week
28 September – 4 October 2026
Join communities, schools, businesses and individuals across Scotland taking action on climate change. Climate Week celebrates progress - and shows us all how to go further.
Dyslexia Awareness Week Scotland
28 September – 4 October 2026
This year, the Dyslexia Awareness Week Scotland campaign is for access to useful reasonable adjustments.
The Right Tools for the Job campaign highlights all the things that can help people with dyslexia to work and learn at their best.
Men and Menopause
Learning Fund Case Study: National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) - Highlands and Islands
During the last few years, the RMT Highlands and Islands project has engaged in activity focused on Menopause and the effect it has all workers and their families. Working with the employer’s Wellbeing Group, the project considered the possibility of facilitating a Men and Menopause session for some time. Working in a male-dominated industry has strengthened the case for such a session to give men a better understanding of what colleagues, wives, partners, or family members may be experiencing.
Art and Class: Co-ordinating across the Learning Fund and External Learning
Learning Fund Case Study: Scottish Artists Union (SAU)- Lowlands and Uplands
SAU delivered an Art and Class course at the Community Wellbeing Collective in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh. The course was designed to tackle one of the most significant yet under-represented issues in contemporary art: the barriers facing working class artists and art workers. The Community Wellbeing Collective is a grassroots organisation that serves working class audiences and presents work by working class artists, and as such was selected strategically as a venue for the first session. Hosting the session in this venue meant discussions were rooted in the realities of communities mostly affected by class-based exclusion.
Scottish Government Criminal Justice Division - Trauma Reporting
Learning Fund Case Study: National Union of Journalists (NUJ) - Lowlands and Uplands
The NUJ was approached by the Scottish Government’s Criminal Justice Division (SGCJD) to address media reporting on child homicide victims. This included exploring the possibility of providing training on sensitive reporting for journalists covering these cases. After ongoing discussions with their team and considering feedback from Victim Support Scotland, NUJ developed a new course, ‘Trauma Reporting for journalists’, which was delivered at the end of January 2026.
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