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Confirmed speakers include: Professor Bruce Spiegelman, Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Dr Tim Rolph, Chief Scientific Officer, Pfizer and Professor Stephen O’Rahilly FRS FMedSci, Professor of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Cambridge and Professor Andrew Morris FRSE FMedSci, Director, Biomedical Research Institute, University of Dundee

This high-level interdisciplinary meeting will review contemporary findings in the obesity-diabetes ‘epidemic’ and discuss the implications for future developments. The symposium will cover topics including epidemiology and genetics, disease mechanisms, novel imaging approaches, and new therapies, with the intention of horizon-scanning rather than reiterating what is already well known.
With support from the RSE Scotland Foundation, the symposium will bring together leading UK and international speakers and participants from academia, industry, the health services and research funders.

Admission is free, although pre-registration is required. Please visit www.royalsoced.org.uk/events/index.htm#crf for more information and to register online.

There will be a poster session for early career researchers with awards made at the symposium. Submissions are invited in the areas of:
Obesity
Diabetes
Epidemiology
Metabolic syndrome
Insulin resistance
Heart Disease
Atheroscerosis
Inflammation
Drug development and imaging
Societal Change

If you require further information about the symposium or poster session please contact Sue Walker, Events Officer, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street EH2 2PQ; Tel 0131 240 5000 or events@royalsoced.org.uk

Diabetes Conference

The Group also concluded that, to support a culture which is equipped to make informed judgements, the focus should be on enabling greater discussion of risk and uncertainty, and opening up debate around the processes involved in the production of scientific knowledge. There is much good work occurring across the board to work towards this, but the Group calls for greater co-ordination of activity; this relates to the wider themes covered in the report, including ethical codes, supporting processes and communication of ethical issues and governance.

You can dowload the full report and comment on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills website: Full Report

This is the final report in the Science and Society Expert Group series which resulted from the Science and Society Consultation in 2008. All of the reports can be accessed via the BIS interactive site: http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/scienceandsociety

It will allow them to share their perspectives with each other and with those with an interest in better public engagement in government, research organisations and other civil society groups. Places are limited at the event, so please apply for your place, even if you have already been in contact with them, by contacting Lorraine Vincent at l.s.vincent@newcastle.ac.uk  by 22 March 2010.
You will be contacted by 29 March 2010 whether you have been successful.

Because of our funding from the Northern Rock Foundation there is a subsidised charge of just £50* for those attending the event who are living or working in the North East and Cumbria. The cost for those outside the region is £90.

Please see the attached invitation and conference programme for further details:

Invitation
Programme

‘Dialogue academy’ (www.dialogueacademy.org.uk ) has been developed as a collaboration between At-Bristol, The UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres, Glasgow Science Centre, The Centre for Life, Thinktank and The Living Rainforest.

It is generously supported by the Wellcome Trust which has allowed us to provide this training *entirely for free*.

To be clear, we pay for:
- all travel
- accommodation (this is all booked and arranged by us too, you don’t need to do anything)
- food
(we do ask that you book travel in advance and we’ll only cover costs within reason – if you’d like to travel first class then enjoy, but unfortunately we can’t pay for it!)

The training is concerned with dialogue and how your centre can embed dialogue into its everyday practice. The format is such that there are two residential days at a Centre for Life followed by a two month gap where participants are asked to deliver a dialogue activity at their centre/ organisation. Finally there is a third day back at the Centre for Life to reflect on the activities that they ran, and cover some final aspects of the training.

Over the course of the three days they will be covering:
- What is dialogue and why use it
- A marketplace of dialogue activities
- Facilitation skills
- Considering your audience
- Dialogue topics
- Indicators of dialogue
- Kick starting your dialogue activity
- [2 month break for development and delivery of your dialogue activity]
- Reflecting on your dialogue activity
- Selling dialogue and how dialogue can help in fund-raising
- Embedding dialogue in your centre

As you can see, this is quite comprehensive and covers a large range of topics including general soft skills such as facilitation and fundraising.

The academies are an excellent opportunity for networking and meeting staff from other centres around the country. While the academies are primarily aimed at delivery staff, they also have a good number of managers attending each academy and are very happy for managers to attend also (those who attended the previous academies all found it very useful).

The booking form, plus any additional information is on the dialogue academy website at www.dialogueacademy.org.uk

26th – 30th April 2010
and
6th – 10th September 2010

Participatory Appraisal is highly regarded as a valuable tool for providing structures and processes to enable local people to identify
their own priorities and make their own decisions about the future. There are many applications of PA, including natural resource
management, programmes for the poor, health and food security in both rural and urban situations.

The workshop consists of 5 intensive days of training concentrating on the practical applications of PA and include a placement towards the end of the week to put the skills learned into practice. Previous placements have taken place with the Bilston Wood Community Project and the Woodland Trust Scotland. You can also read about another earlier (and very successful) placement at www.fifedirect.org.uk (search for “Food Access in Dysart”). The September 2009 workshop placement will take place a community setting in South East Edinburgh.

The principal workshop facilitator is Vikki Hilton, an Honorary Fellow of The University of Edinburgh with extensive experience over many years of training, facilitating and mediation. Vikki has travelled widely, using participatory approaches overseas as well as in the UK, with government, non-government and community groups.

The cost of the workshop is £575 (volunteer rate £375 by special application) – held at 2009 rates – which includes all tuition costs,
in-course transportation, documentation, refreshments and a sandwich lunch on four days.

You can find full information on our website at http://www.lifelong.ed.ac.uk/cpd/courses/geosciences where you can download the registration form and course flier and also **BOOK ONLINE**. And if your company or organisation are sponsoring your attendance, you can request an invoice whether you book online or by hard copy registration form.

Please note that places are limited, but we are happy to hold places provisionally for a limited period, pending receipt of your completed registration. Please let us know if you would like us to post you a copy of the registration form

Key speakers confirmed so far include:
Alex Neil MSP Scottish Government Minister for Housing & Communities
Prof. Duncan MacLennan International expert on housing & regeneration (University of St. Andrews)
Prof. Greg Lloyd Professor of Urban Planning, University of Belfast
Jim McFarlane Managing Director of Operations, Scottish Enterprise

This key Scottish regeneration event will look squarely at the challenges ahead; but its concentrated and constructive focus will be on linking people, projects and practice across the SURF network to examine the real opportunities for supporting more sustainable community regeneration in this time of change.

In cooperation with the Public Policy Network of the University of Edinburgh, the first day of the conference will link Scotland’s extensive regeneration oriented academic resources with the practical challenges at hand for practitioners and policy-makers.

The second day will focus on cooperation in policy and practice. Key speakers, debates, presentations and panel sessions will link the policy process to the realities of delivering positive change in Scotland’s most disadvantaged communities. In doing so, we will showcase the assets and resources that are at hand to support and sustain regeneration, despite the increasingly difficult economic
climate and related challenges.

You can register online at: www.scotregen.co.uk or alternatively fill in the booking form in the conference flyer: SURF Flyer

• Be a Science Communicator at the EISF
• Charles Darwin Birthday Lecture
• Designers in the Lab Event
• Wellcome Trust Science Media Studentships
• Managing Public Art Projects: A Handbook for Artists
• Popular Science Conference 2010
• NESTA: Age Unlimited Scotland
• Sustainability: Where are we going?
• Bright Ideas Fellowships and Residencies
• Public Art Scotland: Call for Submissions
• ESRC Social Science Festival – debates on Knowledge Transfer
• Bang Goes The Theory – 2010
• Scotland’s Wild Landscapes – New Ways Forward
• Conference: People, Places and Prosperity
• Science for All Report published
• Beacons for Public Engagement Initiative: Online survey of UK higher education staff, and researchers
• Community Engagement in Science – featuring women scientists
• Questioning the Future Series – Scotland’s Low Carbon Future
• Chain Reaction 2009
• Stakeholder Engagement 2010 Online Conference
• The Royal Society – Partnership Grants
• People and Participation.net
• Science Communication Conference
• Epace – Good Citizens Participation Practices Conference Report
• Promising Practices In Online Engagement
• NCCPE Engagement Conference
• Dialogue in a New Decade
• Microgrants for Local Dialogue Activities in Europe
• Create10 :: the conference for innovative interaction design
• Facilitating on the Shop Floor – FREE BIG Event
• New-look website

Date: Monday 8th March
Time: 8.30pm
Speaker: Richard Massey
Location: The filmhouse bar, gallery area

Title: The Dark Side of the Universe & when Light doesn’t Travel in Straight Lines

“Most of the Universe is made of mysterious “dark matter” and “dark energy”. Both ingredients are invisible – which makes life difficult for astronomers – but we are beginning to get the first picture of what they are. They give themselves away by bending light around them, a characteristic effect first predicted by Albert Einstein. In a non-technical talk, an Edinburgh astronomer will describe how Arthur Eddington’s 1919 observations of an African solar eclipse demonstrated this effect and proved the general theory of relativity. He will discuss a return expedition to celebrate the anniversary last year, and how the latest observations from the Hubble Space Telescope are revealing the dark side of the Universe everywhere around us.”

The talk is free and not ticketed but be sure to arrive in good time to get a seat!