An East–West Collaboration between Northern Ireland & Scotland

Are you passionate about community development and health equity? Do you want to connect with other leaders, share ideas, and shape change across borders?

The Common Ground Leadership Programme is a unique opportunity to build your leadership skills, explore shared challenges, and co-create solutions with peers from Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Who can apply and what is involved?

We are working with the Community Development and Health Network in Northern Ireland on this new programme.  The CDHN are a regional infrastructure organisation and work with local communities and across sectors to take action on the social determinants of health, improve wellbeing and reduce health inequalities.

We’re looking for applicants with experience working in community development and health, especially project workers or managers in the community, voluntary and statutory sectors. Volunteers may also apply if they are involved at a strategic level within their organisation.

We’re looking for people who want to:

  • Build lasting connections with community leaders across NI and Scotland

  • Learn from successful models of community-led health and development

  • Contribute to shaping inclusive, equitable futures

  • Be part of a cross-border movement for change

Events and funding

Applicants must be able to commit to attending all the programme activities, which involve travel to Northern Ireland as part of the learning exchange.

  • Leadership Exchange visit to Belfast (2 nights in December 2025)

  • Two online dialogue group sessions in January and February 2026

  • Networking event in Glasgow including site visits and roundtable (March 2025)

The programme is funded by the Northern Ireland Office through the Connect Fund and participation costs, including flights and hotel, will be covered. More details on this will be available for successful applicants.

Apply

If you’d like to apply for this exciting opportunity, please fill in the expression of interest form below. As spaces are limited, this information will be used to allocate places across organisations fairly and ensure a balanced geographic and sectoral mix of participants as far as possible.

Applications are open until 27th October 2025 and we may be in touch with you sooner if we need more details for our selection process

If you’d like any more information on this programme, please email Sarah.