The director of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit has been given the title of Honorary Professor as part of a new policing research collaboration.

Niven Rennie was named one of the ambassadors of the Policing Innovation Enterprise Learning (PIEL) – a new international partnership with the purpose of driving progressive change in policing.

PIEL is hosted through a centre at the University of East London and brings together professional, academic and community thinkers.

Mr Rennie said: “I am very humbled to accept the Honorary Professor post – it is an honour for me personally but it also great recognition for the work of the SVRU.

“Scotland is a world leader in the public health approach to violence reduction and the SVRU remains committed to seeking out innovative evidence-based solutions to violence and sharing our own knowledge with others.

“I look forward to being part of this new international collaboration which has the aim of making communities safer by working together at its very centre.”

PIEL is affiliated with the Institute for Connected Communities, reaching out for impact via the Institute of Government and Public Policy (IGPP), hosted at the University of East London.  

Ambassadors have been chosen from across the world to form a network sharing the PIEL approach.

More information on PIEL can be found here.