Edinburgh Napier University

  A recent article in the OR Society Magazine highlighted a growing need to address the "grand challenges" that we face as a society and desire to have a lasting legacy from Euro 2015 (Glasgow). Addressing “grand challenges” is very much in the history and tradition of Operational Research (OR), in the past saving millions of lives and protecting Britain, ultimately helping to liberate Europe. There are “grand challenges” facing us all in the UK and beyond, today. Lane (2010) argued that OR has considerable advantages to deal with strategic issues and grand challenges. However, in the area of sustainability, Weaver et al., (2013) found a limited number of contributions in ORS journals, mainly focused on environmental issues but significantly growing since the credit crisis crash in 2011. The “grand challenges” in Glasgow will be outlined in conversation with the Voluntary Action Fund, long established Scottish grant maker, followed by break-out discussions to: 1) Discuss the nature of the problems and issues in relation to the host of OR methodologies, tools and techniques; 2) Explore how OR professionals can best promote and develop meaningful responses to make an impact in the areas identified A ‘call to action’ and next steps will be identified by the participants to be shared amongst the OR community to address some of these grand challenges in Glasgow. Many will be equally applicable across Europe, and, indeed, worldwide.