Dear <<First Name>>,

Welcome to the Island Innovation newsletter! If you were forwarded this email or accessed it through a link, don't forget to subscribe here. 

You might have noticed it has been a while since the last newsletter. But I have a good excuse! I have been reaching the end of my Masters Degree in Island Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), Scotland. This course is based in the Institute for Northern Studies in the Orkney Islands, and focuses on the study of island communities both in Scotland and internationally. My dissertation is a comparative study of renewable energy in sub-national island jurisdictions using the case studies of Eigg, Scilly and Tokelau - I will be publishing parts of it in the future!

Given my own travel schedule this year, it would have been very difficult to take part in most Masters programs. However, the best (or worst?!) thing with this degree is that so far I have not even needed to visit Orkney! My first ever trip to this part of Scotland will in fact be for the graduation ceremony in September. UHI is still a young institution, only receiving university status in 2011, and is embracing technology with its Virtual Learning Environment.

UHI was originally founded to provide access to education in the remotest parts of Scotland, partly as a way to reverse emigration and reduce brain drain. Now the university is being attended by a growing number of people from across the world who want to access its forward-thinking education system. My classes were attended by lecturers and students from Shetland, Skye and the Western Isles. We even had guest lectures from the Falkland Islands, Prince Edward Island, Greenland, Iceland and the Isle of Man!

All this is to say that technology is now a lifeline for island communities, and is changing the ways that islands can learn from and interact each other. With UHI, I recently attended the International Island Studies Association conference on the Dutch island of Terschelling, which brought together academics from a broad range of disciplines together to discuss "islandness".

A growing number of universities are embracing island studies as a discipline in its own right, and for me the biggest value is sharing diverse experiences and building bridges (virtually!) to learn lessons from diverse places. Hopefully this newsletter can help to be that bridge between different islands and between academia and practice!

Thanks for reading,
James

P.S. Who knew that newsletters would cost so much to host!? If you enjoyed this content could you pledge $3 per month to help cover the expenses? See my Patreon page for more information.

Energy Stories

Interesting stories on energy from around the world: 

• The Tla-o-qui-aht Nation of Vancouver Island are taking their hydroelectric resources into their own hands
• Flores (Indonesia) is the test-bed of a newly adapted guidelines for geothermal projects
• Mallorca has a boom in green energy projects
• Haiti has some exciting solar energy project
• A wave energy project is piloted in the Bahamas
• There are big changes in Trinidad's energy sector - but oil and gas still dominates
• Breakthrough smart grid technology is coming to Barbados
• Renewable energy is creating an economic boom for Hawai'i and a local church is showcasing its own of renewables and energy efficiency
• St. John will soon be self-sufficient in electricity
• Residents of Canna will follow neighbouring Eigg with a £1.3m renewables project
• Many people in Scottish island communities are living with high levels of fuel poverty
• An innovative variable speed generator is reducing fuel costs in the Arctic 
• The Bahamas has been criticized for defending pollution from the shipping industry

Featured Keynote: "Resilient Together"

An energy management consultant with the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Islands Energy Program, Martyn Forde is also the Community Leader of the CARILEC Renewable Energy Community (CAREC), an online platform designed to enable Caribbean utility companies and energy professionals to share their knowledge on low-carbon technologies and steward organizational knowledge development through webinars, virtual working groups, and workshops.

Other stories worth sharing

A selection of stories relevant to innovation and sustainable development from around the world:

• Study on the gendered consequences of mobility for climate change adaptation using case studies from the Maldives
• Rats have been eradicated from South Georgia to protect indigenous wildlife
• The Faroe Islands are an infrastructure miracle
• Caribbean resilience needs to embrace low-income communities
• The Cranberry Isles in Maine just finished the first phase of a fiber-to-the-home community broadband network
• The UK announced new diplomatic posts in the Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Grenada, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu
• Papua New Guinea is looking at opportunities from blockchain
• Contemporary foreign policy could learn a lesson from the Rastafari
• How the indigenous Inuvialuit led the construction of Canada’s highway to the Arctic Ocean

Thank you to everyone who has read, shared, supported and donated to help make this newsletter happen. I cannot thank you enough for your help and encouragement and look forward to seeing where this project will go!

Please share this link with friends and colleagues and encourage them to subscribe, or click below to make a contribution to the running costs. 
Previous newsletters are available here.

Please feel free to contact me, connect on Linkedin, Twitter, or my website.

Feedback is always welcome!