SPARC 2023

Wednesday 8th November 2023

SPARC23 was held at Pollock Halls, University of Edinburgh and was an overwhelming success.

We are very keen to celebrate 20 years since ‘Let’s Make Scotland More Active’ was released in 2003 so this will be woven into the overall theme of the conference with an overarching ethos of ‘Making Lives Better – 20 years on’. 

We have a top notch programme in planning for the day including:

  • a keynote presentation from Dr Alison Kirk reflecting on the last 20 years of physical activity for health in Scotland and looking forward to how we can make lives better
  • a panel discussion with key expert practitioners, academics and policy colleagues to encourage us to reflect on the journey we’ve been on and inspire us to drive progress forward
  • poster and oral presentations of both case studies of good practice and academic research – with prizes for top submissions!
  • knowledge exchange sessions bringing together research, policy and practice to explore ‘hot topics’ in physical activity for health

Abstract submissions and registration for this year’s event are now closed.

FINAL PROGRAMME 

Wednesday 8th November 2023 

Venue: John McIntyre Conference Centre, Pollock Halls, 18 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH16 5AY 

Time 

Item 

Room 

08:30-09:30 

Registration and set up posters 

Arrival Tea and Coffee 

JMCC Foyer and Centro 

09:30-09:40 

Welcome: 

Professor Marie Murphy, Chair of the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC), University of Edinburgh 

Ms Maree Todd, Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport, Scottish Government 

Pentland  

09:40-10:20 

Keynote with Q&A: 

Dr Alison Kirk, Reader in Physical Activity for Health, University of Strathclyde 

Title: “20 years of physical activity for health in Scotland. Continuing to make lives better” 

Pentland 

10:20-11:20 

Knowledge Exchange Sessions 

  1. Connecting Research, Policy and Practice in Scotland from SPARC and beyond – how do we continue discussions for the next 12 months?

  2. Physical Activity Messaging and Communication 

  3. 24 hour movement/non-movement behaviours and guidelines 

  4. Is Scotland walking in the right direction? Analysis of trends in walking and reflections from policy and practice. 

  5. Engaging hard-to-reach populations in regular physical activity in Scotland 

  6. Research evidence and practitioner experience of using physical activity to support mental health in Scotland 

Prestonfield 


Boardroom 1 & 2 


Duddingston 

 

Holyrood

 

Pentland 

Salisbury 

11:20-11:40 

AM Break with Tea and Coffee 

JMCC Centro and Concourse 

11:40-12:40 

Poster Presentations 

Poster presenters are asked to stand with their posters during this time 

JMCC Concourse 

12:40-13:30 

Lunch 

JMCC Centro 

13:30-14:40 

Oral presentations 

  1. Samuel Warne: Participation in a nationwide workplace step count competition is associated with improved physical fitness and mental wellbeing: a multi-study repeated-measures analysis  
  1. Amy McKie: Evaluation of the DG Doing More Physical Activity Campaign 
  1. Chloe Williamson: What do people know and think about the physical activity guidelines? A qualitative exploration in Scotland based adults   
  1. Josephine Holland: An Exploration of service users perceptions of the Parkinson’s Beats Programme 
  1. Josie Booth: Co-designed Physically Active Learning programme for early literacy in Scotland: Development, feasibility and pilot data from “Move & Read”. 
  1. Juliet Harvey: Our 5 year journey to build the Active Wards movement to tackle sedentary behaviour in the clinical setting 
  1. Ana Sofia Alvardo Vazquez Mellado: Mapping programmes which promote active travel to people with long-term health conditions in Scotland 
  1. Farid Bardid: Towards a sustainable fitness monitoring system for school-aged children: FitBack Scotland 

Pentland 

14:40-14:50 

Yoga Break 

Pentland 

14:50-15:10 

PM Break with Tea and Coffee 

JMCC Centro 

15:10-15:20 

Panel discussion – opening remarks 

Professor Nanette Mutrie MBE 

Professor Emerita, University of Edinburgh 

Pentland 

15:20-16:10 

Panel discussion 

  • Flora Jackson, Health Improvement Manager (Physical Activity), Public Health Scotland & Honorary Fellow of PAHRC 
  • Professor John Reilly, Professor of Physical Activity and Public Health, University of Strathclyde 
  • Kevin Lafferty, Chief Executive Officer at Paths for All 
  • Professor Anna Campbell MBE, Sport, EXercise and Health Dept, Edinburgh Napier University 
  • Dr Mary Allison 

Pentland 

16:10 – 16:25 

Prizes and closing remarks 

Pentland