The Population Mental Health consortium is running a collaborative event on the built environment on Wednesday, 5 March at the University of Manchester campuses on Oxford Road, Manchester.
Join this online Q&A on Monday 3 February facilitated by the Consortium to learn more about what this sandpit event is all about and to ask any questions about the event which you may have.
What will this Q&A webinar cover?
This 60-minute webinar will explain:
The background to the event, including the Population Mental Health Consortium
How the sandpit event will run
Give examples of what types of projects we are interested in
Give more details about who is eligible to apply
There will also be a chance for Q&A to ask any clarifying questions about the event.
The webinar will take place on MS Teams. Webinar joining instructions will be sent to all registered participants nearer the time.
What is the sandpit event?
The sandpit event will be a hands-on workshop where teams from different sectors - academics, community groups, public services - rapidly brainstorm and test ideas in real-world contexts.
For this first sandpit, we’re inviting a small set of organisations to bring challenges tied to the Consortium’s goals. In the sandpit workshop, they’ll work with researchers to develop tangible proof-of-concept solutions. Those that look promising can then receive seed funding from the sandpit budget. The amount of funding given to each individual project will range from £1,000 to £10,000, and the total amount to be distributed to all projects is £40,000.
Additional funding is available to reimburse participants for expenses directly incurred as a result of their involvement in the sandpit. This funding is intended to cover costs that participants would not otherwise be able to recover through other means. Reimbursements will be subject to the availability of funds within the overall event budget, ensuring equitable allocation while supporting participants to engage fully.
The sandpit event will take place on Wednesday, 5 March at the University of Manchester campuses on Oxford Road, Manchester.
What ideas might be considered?
We are particularly interested in partnering with:
Early career researchers
VCSE and non-academic organisations
Individuals with lived experience
Possible areas of exploration are
Housing
Accessibility and mobility
Environmental quality (e.g. air pollution)
Placemaking and public spaces
Social connectivity & isolation
Access to natural environment & ecosystem restoration
Diversity
At the end of the sandpit event, any funded project will have to:
Include an academic partner and a community-based partner (the connections can be made during the sandpit event itself)
Be directly relevant to population mental health, addressing upstream determinants of mental health in research and practice
Broaden the reach and diversity of the Consortium
