In 2019 The University of Edinburgh’s Information Services Group (ISG) implemented a Playful Engagement strategy to formalise and foster a workplace environment and culture where innovation, playful learning, and creative engagement are embedded in our practices.  

The strategy encompassed the way that services, tools, technologies, practice, communication, and community are undertaken across the Group and provided outwith the University and broader local, national, and global interests across four focused goals: 

1. Facilitate the development of playful innovators, researchers, and creators.
2. Promote creative, playful, and innovative use of technologies and tools in ISG services.
3. Utilise our world-class libraries and collections in innovative and engaging ways to enrich our services.
4. Support a healthy work life balance, and a positive and engaging work environment.

Since 2020 there have been many changes to how we work and provide services both in person and with a greater shift online and into digital. So, we’ve hired a Playful Engagement intern to work alongside us to review and update our ISG Playful Engagement strategy to reflect these changes. This review is focusing on managerial level uptake and implementation, particularly how the strategy provided opportunities for managers across the Group to use playful approaches within their teams’ work practices and communities or the provision of their services, and to identify what barriers to playfulness are perceived by those same managers.