A background to the Discovering Liveability project. Discovering Liveability builds on past projects led by Amy Chandler and many of the team’s researchers. The project sits within a wider Critical Suicide Research Group. The Critical Suicide Research Group at the University of Edinburgh is a growing group of researchers led by Amy Chandler, engaging in creative, qualitatively driven approaches to suicide research. The work is largely community-based, grounded in place and context and centres lived and living experiences. Discovering Liveability has developed on the groundwork of two previous projects: Wellcome funded Suicide Cultures: Reimagining Suicide Research, and Leverhulme Trust funded Suicide in/as politics (SIAP). Both projects established new methods, brought together different disciplines and demonstrated the value of thinking and ‘doing’ differently when undertaking suicide research. You can read more about past and present research from The Critical Research Group below. 2020-2024: Suicide in/as Politics [Leverhulme Trust] 2020-2025: Suicide Cultures: Reimagining Suicide Research [Wellcome Trust] 2024-2025: Sea to Spruce: A pilot study of green & blue space community groups for mental health improvement [Edinburgh Mental Health- Seed Fund] 2024-2029: The Rain Within the Rainbow: Improving understandings of LGBTQ+ suicide and suicide prevention in the UK [Wellcome Trust] 2026: ReFrame. This project is concerned with best practices for conducting research with patients who have attended emergency departments for mental health crises. [Royal College of Emergency Medicine] This article was published on 2026-01-30
