In January 2022 AAS partnered with UHI Outer Hebrides (now UHI North, West and Hebrides) to design, develop and deliver two, new, SQA accredited Professional Development Awards for Craft Practitioners.

The project, coordinated by Carol Sinclair and Netty Sopata was supported by Skills Development Scotland and the National TransitionTraining Fund (Rural). The course(s) recruited forty, rurally located Craft Practitioners across Scotland.

These practitioners studied course content digitally under the tutorship of the following AAS Professional Makers: Carol Sinclair (Business Planning), Amanda Simmons (International Trading), Alice Dansey Wright (Marketing), Anne Marquiss (Design), Cally Booker (Project management), Netty Sopata (Sustainability and Monitoring and Evaluation) and Sam Goates (Internal Verifier and Quality Advisor). Steve Colmer (Lateral North) designed and delivered the Innovate in Craft module in which practitioners were introduced to Immersive Virtual Reality technology. As part of the project, all of the course tutors studied for their Assessors in the Workplace Award.

“The course is really well put together and resourced, drawing on the experience of the tutors and the world at large, meaning we will be well placed to go on using content we have discovered through the course beyond our university remit!”

Anna Liebmann Sustaining Craft Business Practice Student 2022

Plans for 2025 course delivery are currently being explored.