Collective Knowledge Project

The Collective Knowledge Project has grown out of an Adventure Activities Industry Advisory Committee (AAIAC) working group. It was initially set up in 2023 to look at new ways of sharing safety lessons and knowledge across the sector. Through partnering with the University of the Highlands and Islands North, West and Hebrides (UHI North, West and Hebrides) and the IOL, we have been able to access funding through Interface to help move the project forwards.

The project has had the following three phases;

• Phase 1 – a retrospective study to test the process of a sector wide incident-reporting system.
• Phase 2 – to develop a participation and incident-reporting tool, that could be used across the sector. This has led us to…
• Phase 3 – run a Participation and Incident Snapshot Survey in 2026.

The intention of the project is to connect relevant knowledge and information to individuals and providers in the sector to reduce incidents, improve quality of provision, and support individual / provider development by encouraging a greater understanding of safety and risk management.

The project has three overall objectives;

• Collection – awareness of current trends and themes across the sector
• Curation – information and knowledge stored in a useful and accessible format
• Communication – encourage and develop ways of sharing knowledge and information widely and effectively.

With a rich history in safety and risk management, the UK outdoor adventure activity sector continues to face preventable incidents. There has been a perception over the past 30 years that the sector has had significant progression and improvement in safety and risk management. But with an increasingly diverse sector, fixed legislation, and a changing workforce, there is scope for improvement in our current frameworks. This drive for improvement and critical approach is also indicative of a professional sector and workforce.

Overall our aim is to ensure that safety knowledge and lessons from previous incidents are not forgotten and are retained to help support the workforce and organisations of tomorrow.