40 Courses in Edinburgh

This half day course is designed for voluntary and community organisations and those involved in community development who need to write funding applications and want to ensure that their bids are clear, focussed and meet the funders’ criteria.

Ikigai is that thing that gives our existence a marvellous intensity, what gives meaning to life, or, as the French would say, its raison d’être. There is a fire inside us—it can burn brightly, weaken, and then reignite stronger than ever. Ikigai cannot simply be a mental concept; it is wider, deeper, and more absolute than the thinking mind. It is something to be lived, and only by living it can you truly know it. Living your Ikigai brings joy, satisfaction, and a profound sense of fulfillment. This ancient concept originates from the island of Okinawa, where iki means "life" and gai means "what is worthwhile," often described as “happiness” or your soul's mission. In this creative workshop, we will not rely on theories but instead embark on revelatory experiences designed to help you discover your Ikigai, which is, we have to say, a long journey. Through reflective exercises and hands-on creativity, you’ll paint your own Mandala of Purpose—a visual representation of what makes life meaningful for you. Join us to explore what is your soul mission. No prior art experience is needed—just an open heart and a desire to connect with your true self. Spaces are limited. Reserve your spot now and begin your journey to purpose, fulfillment, and living your Ikigai! This class is sponsored by Evoc. It is FREE and is aimed at WOMEN only from ETHNIC MINORITY BACKGROUNDS living in Edinburgh as per this funding application . This means “international”, from every foreign country. (Irish, any other white background, mixed ethnic, Asian/Asian British, Black/African/Caribbean, Black British, Arabic or other ethic groups) However we do welcome locals too so just sign up. We prioritize the area of Gorgie-Dalry-Saughton where our studio is based.  By attending this class you release the teacher, Giada Gaslini and Art and Spirituality Cic, from any liability arising out of any personal injuries, emotional or physical release, death, expectations of results, theft in the venue or damages that may happen to people and objects while attending.

This half day course is designed to help staff working in statutory agencies, and local representatives, understand the role of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), how the management of European funding for Social Inclusion is changing and requiring more partnership working, and the opportunities and issues that arise in working in partnership with the VCS.

Overview Understanding the Global Foreign Exchange (FX) has become an important part of the financial system. Today many financial institutions and organisations are more focused on enhancing the skills of the management and modification of their source of liquidity, re-organising their funding system and studying the benefits of short-term investment and trading strategies. This diverted focus brought the money market in the limelight thereby giving more opportunities for understanding the different ways of funding, trading and many more investment opportunities. The course is specially designed by the financial experts in FX and Money Market thereby building a strong foundation on the tools and techniques of the FX market and international money market. It gives detailed insight into the financial crisis that happened to take place and what we have learned from that including the development in the FX and Money Market. The course highlights the unified nature of FX, money markets and derivatives and examines the liquidity features and risks of diverse instruments and funding strategies.

SAFe® Lean Portfolio Management: In-House Training Create a culture of innovation, flexibility, and speed where all people in the portfolio can effectively execute as one unified team. In this course, you will gain the practical tools and techniques necessary to implement the Lean Portfolio Management functions of Strategy and Investment Funding, Agile Portfolio Operations, and Lean Governance. You will have the opportunity to capture the current and future state of the portfolio with the Portfolio Canvas tool and identify important business initiatives for achieving the future state. You'll be able to establish portfolio flow with the Portfolio Kanban and prioritize initiatives for maximum economic benefit. The course also provides insights on how to establish Value Stream Budgets and Lean Budget Guardrails and measure the Lean portfolio performance. What you will Learn Describe the importance of LPM Connect the portfolio to enterprise strategy Implement Lean budgeting and guardrails Establish portfolio flow with the Portfolio Kanban Support operational excellence with APMO and CoPs Coordinate Value Streams Measure the LPM performance Build a plan for LPM implementation Introducing Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) Establishing Strategy and Investment Funding Applying Agile Portfolio Operations Applying Lean Governance Implementing the LPM function

Portfolio Management Skills: In-House Training The main purpose of this workshop is to equip and enable people in a portfolio management office and PMO to effectively and efficiently support the Executive Leadership and Operational Management to plan, implement, manage, and evolve portfolio management in their organization. There is a deliberate focus on preparing you to become a strong and effective change advocate for meaningful portfolio management that delivers objective measurements of benefit contribution towards the strategic objectives to lead, manage, and continuously improve portfolio management governance, processes, and frameworks with and through the direction of a portfolio practice, principles, and delivery boards. What you Will Learn At the end of this program, you will be able to: Articulate the benefits of portfolio management Link the initiatives in an organization with its strategic objectives Participate in the introduction of portfolio management in an organization Create or improve the portfolio governance structure Lead the inventory of ongoing and new initiatives Assist the executives in the prioritization of initiatives through the use of Multi-criteria Analysis and other selection tools Support the executives in balancing the portfolio based on the optimal use of resources and priorities Create a portfolio delivery plan Define thresholds and variance reporting criteria Assist the executives and the financial team in the definition of Stage Gate Funding Lead the Stage Gate reviews Analyze the benefits that are being realized by the initiatives Foundation Concepts Definitions Benefits of Portfolio Management Objectives of Portfolio Management Portfolio Life Cycles Governing the Portfolio Portfolio Governance structure Roles and responsibilities Initial activities when starting portfolio management Prioritizing Initiatives Prioritize purpose Multi-Criteria Analysis Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) Strategic alignment Balancing the Portfolio Allocating resources and budgets Communicating decisions of initiatives status Planning the Portfolio Planning review cycles Using Stage Gate Funding Setting thresholds and variance reporting Tool examples Managing the Portfolio Delivery Project and Program Life Cycles Stage Gate Reviews Loop back to Prioritize, Balance and Plan Interaction with the Portfolio Delivery Board Project, Program and Functional Managers' roles and responsibilities

Overview Understanding the grants coming in and their monitoring, spending and many other factors are directly proportionate to effecting Grant Accounting and Grant Management. Many different funding entities give grants to so many companies, the government sector, and private sectors with the aim to encourage growth and employment and economic viability. It is important to recognise the government grants in the profit and loss account, so at the end, it can match the costs to which they relate. Considering these grants efficiently in the accounts is very important, as many entities (including the grant-making body) may closely monitor the accounts; and any errors will reflect badly on the accountant. Many development projects are funded through grants from donors. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the project management team to safeguard that the limited resources are used efficiently to achieve maximum impact.  This course is planned to train the participants with best practices and essential skills in effective grants management.

Better Business Cases™ Foundation and Practitioner: In-House Training Using this best-practice approach will allow organizations to reduce unnecessary spending and improve the decision-making process which gives you a greater chance of securing necessary funding and support for initiatives. The goal of the combined foundation and practitioner course is to develop a candidate's ability to deliver a comprehensive business case through encouraging expanded knowledge to guide the practical application of theoretical foundations. Upon the completion of this course, a candidate will be able to start applying the model to a real business case development project. The outline presented in the course overview will be addressed in the first 2 days, with the Foundation exam conducted on the morning of Day 3. Then the topics will be revisited at a deeper level, for 2 more days, with the Practitioner exam conducted on the afternoon of Day 5. What you will Learn At the end of this program, you will be able to: Develop the lifecycle of a business case and establish the relationships between the five cases Apply the steps in the business case development framework, in order to support the production of a business case, using the Five Case Model, for a given scenario. Overview of Better Business Cases Alignment with the strategic planning process Importance of the Business Case using the Five Case Model Overview of the Five Case Model Purpose of the key stages in the development of a spending proposal Purpose of a Business Justification Case Business Case Development Process Purpose of project / programme assurance and assurance reviews Responsibility for producing the Business Case Determining the Strategic Context and Undertaking the Strategic Assessment Scoping the Scheme and Preparing the Strategic Outline Case Planning the Scheme and Preparing the Outline Business Case Procuring the Solution and Preparing the Full Business Case Implementation and monitoring Evaluation and feedback Making the Case for Change Agree on the strategic context Determine spending objectives, existing arrangements, and business needs Determine potential business scope and key service requirements Determine benefits, risks, constraints, and dependencies Exploring the Preferred Way Forward Agree on critical success factors Determine long list options and SWOT analysis Recommend a preferred way forward Determining Potential Value for Money Revisit the short list Prepare the economic appraisal for short-listed options Undertake benefits appraisal Undertake risk appraisal Select preferred option and undertake sensitivity analysis Preparing for the Potential Deal Determine the procurement strategy Determine service streams and required outputs Outline potential risk apportionment Outline potential payment mechanisms Ascertain contractual issues and accountancy treatment Ascertaining Affordability and Funding Requirement Prepare the financial model Prepare the financial appraisals Planning for Successful Delivery Plan programme / project management Plan change and contract management Plan benefits realization Plan risk management Plan programme / project assurance and post-project evaluation Procuring the Value for Money Solution Revisit the case for change Revisit the OBC options Detail procurement process and evaluation of best and final offers (BAFOs) Contracting for the Deal Set out the negotiated deal and contractual arrangements Set out the financial implications of the deal Ensuring Successful Delivery Finalize project management arrangements and plans Finalize change management arrangements and plans Finalize benefits realization arrangements and plans Finalize risk management arrangements and plans Finalize contract management arrangements and plans Finalize post-project evaluation arrangements and plans

This half day or whole day course is designed for those who are new to either working in or with the voluntary and community sector, including staff, councillors and committee members working in statutory agencies. It will help you understand how the sector works, the various legal forms of organisations, issues of governance and sustainability so that you are able to work more effectively in partnership with the sector and understand its funding needs. The half day course covers the basic information; the longer course can include further subjects such as the use of volunteers and typical issues that face trustee boards and management committees.

Better Business Cases™ Practitioner: In-House Training: In-House Training Better Business Cases™ is based on the Five Case Model - which is the UK government's best practice approach to structuring spending proposals and making effective business decisions. Using this best-practice approach will allow organizations to reduce unnecessary spending and improve the decision-making process which gives you a greater chance of securing necessary funding and support for initiatives. The goal of the practitioner course is to develop a candidate's ability to deliver a comprehensive business case, through encouraging expanded knowledge to guide the practical application of theoretical foundations. Upon the completion of this Practitioner course, a candidate will be able to start applying the model to a real business case development project. What You Will Learn At the end of this program, you will be able to: Develop the lifecycle of a business case and to establish the relationships between the five cases Apply the steps in the business case development framework, in order to support the production of a business case, using the Five Case Model, for a given scenario Overview of Better Business Cases Alignment with the strategic planning process Importance of the Business Case using the Five Case Model Overview of the Five Case Model Purpose of the key stages in the development of a spending proposal Purpose of a Business Justification Case Business Case Development Process Purpose of project / programme assurance and assurance reviews Responsibility for producing the Business Case Determining the Strategic Context and Undertaking the Strategic Assessment Scoping the Scheme and Preparing the Strategic Outline Case Planning the Scheme and Preparing the Outline Business Case Procuring the Solution and Preparing the Full Business Case Implementation and monitoring Evaluation and feedback Making the Case for Change Agree on the strategic context Determine spending objectives, existing arrangements, and business needs Determine potential business scope and key service requirements Determine benefits, risks, constraint, and dependencies Exploring the Preferred Way Forward Agree on critical success factors Determine long list options and SWOT analysis Recommend a preferred way forward Determining Potential Value for Money Revisit the short list Prepare the economic appraisal for short-listed options Undertake benefits appraisal Undertake risk appraisal Select preferred option and undertake sensitivity analysis Preparing for the Potential Deal Determine the procurement strategy Determine service streams and required outputs Outline potential risk apportionment Outline potential payment mechanisms Ascertain contractual issues and accountancy treatment Ascertaining Affordability and Funding Requirement Prepare the financial model Prepare the financial appraisals Planning for Successful Delivery Plan programme / project management Plan change and contract management Plan benefits realization Plan risk management Plan programme / project assurance and post project evaluation Procuring the Value for Money Solution Revisit the case for change Revisit the OBC options Detail procurement process and evaluation of best and final offers (BAFOs) Contracting for the Deal Set out the negotiated deal and contractual arrangements Set out the financial implications of the deal Ensuring Successful Delivery Finalize project management arrangements and plans Finalize change management arrangements and plans Finalize benefits realization arrangements and plans Finalize risk management arrangements and plans Finalize contract management arrangements and plans Finalize post-project evaluation arrangements and plans