‘A blueprint for circular systems’

I am a professor of Design at Belfast School of Art at Ulster University, and one of the co-directors of the Future Island-Island research project.

I am senior lecturer of Architecture at the School of the Natural and Built Environment at Queen's University of Belfast and co-director of Future Island-Island with Justin.  

Future Island-Island is a place-based Green Transition Ecosystem, co-designed with the offshore island community of Rathlin. It uses design-led research to test how circular economy, digital innovation, education and policy can work together to support green transitions in coastal and remote contexts.

There are four universities involved – Ulster University, Queens University, Glasgow School of Art and University of Arts London – which provide a broad and national range of expertise. We also have a network of company partners, including games and design companies, who are working alongside us to scale our work to Scotland - the Argyle and Isles region, the Nordic circle with other remote island communities.

There are two main focuses. The first, working with the community we are examining  circular materials, particularly the valorisation of waste, specifically ocean plastics and wool. The second is digital transformation, using immersive technologies, games and stories to make sustainable learning accessible, sharing sustainable pasts and creating new skills and avenues for the future. Together, these strands allow us to move from awareness to action.

Our developed design ecosystem demonstrated the value of interdisciplinary, community embedded design thinking. Appointed Fellows encouraged design thinkers to identify barriers to the circular economy on Rathlin and co-develop responses that were both imaginative and scalable.

The aim was to develop an ecosystem of thinking about waste, digital transformation, education and policy. The residents worked at a hyperlocal level on Rathlin, but we encouraged thinking beyond the region too.

Our researchers analysed the minutes from the island’s town hall meetings that record its strategic decision-making over the last ten years. Gradual change can be invisible, but when can see how and why it happened, that can be very empowering for a community.

Another notable outcome is the creation of the Rathlin Citizens’ Panel, establishing a democratic mini-public on the island. This group now provides a structured, informed community voice and has directly influenced consultation. This elected group of ten people are the voice of Rathlin and can challenge any propositions that affect the island. For example, the panel have been engaged in dialogue about the future of the island’s ferry service and created an independent platform for community discussion, showing how design methods can support democratic participation in infrastructure decision-making.

By embedding Future Island–Island into architectural education, our architecture students have been following Future Island-Island principles to investigate circular economy – they have been questioning not just how we build, but whether we should build, how we select materials and develop hyperlocal place-based solutions. This work has already been recognised through national and international awards, but more importantly it is influencing how future designers think about their profession and climate responsibility.

Working with remote island communities is a learning process and a listening process, deep listening and slow design are key. Firstly, we held discussions about how we could better use local materials and developed the notion of a waste-free island. We’re working with the Department for Infrastructure and Causeway Coast and Glens Council to identify the infrastructure and resources that would be required. The result will offer a blueprint for circular systems on the island, transforming the way in which waste is currently managed.

We are working with the community to examine developing the East Lighthouse as a place-based demonstrator for a community-owned green knowledge economy, testing adaptive reuse, circular materials and digital connectivity in a way that can unlock future investment while remaining led by the island community. This lighthouse was built in 1856, it operated with families living there from 1956 until the 1990s, when it was automated and there was no longer a need for people to live on the site. Since then, it has essentially been empty, which is typical of many sites like this across the islands. We are examining the transformation of this site like this into community and citizen-led assets. From a research perspective we’re working with the community, not researching on or about the community.

We are working towards a citizen architect approach to the adaptive use of the space and trying to facilitate its repair. This builds upon an already established culture of repair on the island and we hope to add to that skill set, where appropriate.

A key ambition is to make ourselves redundant. Phase 2 focuses on making sure that our activities and skills are embedded within the community so that work continues independently, and that we produce blueprints, toolkits and policy models that can be replicated in other island and remote contexts.

The development of island wool captures the ethos of Future Island–Island, turning overlooked resources, heritage and skills into shared environmental, cultural and economic value.  Wool was previously a waste product on the island, so one strand tackled waste in a tangible way, managing, processing and innovating with 1500kg of wool. This authentic Rathlin wool was graded, cleaned and spun into yarn counts/weights and the first 16mm Wool Rope from a commercial machine, implemented for kelp seeding. One of our fellows spent time learning about traditional fair isle patterns and their technical design. Using artefacts found on Rathlin Island, including an old Neolithic pottery artefact found by another resident, she designed the first Rathlin Island fair isle pattern and is now incorporating this into the visual aesthetic of her products. Another fellowship team included a resident and a local illustrator to tell the wider story of Rathlin wool. This is the first time that Rathlin wool has been used in any commercial context as it’s historically been wasted. So, it tells a story about how that wool has been managed and how instead of being wasted, it has undertaken a journey of research and community innovation. The story is told in both Irish Gaelic and English, and at the book launch the team were told “you are custodians for both wool and the Irish language”. The book is now commercially available, and we have developed models to protect the intellectual property, but we have zero ownership. All the proceeds go back to the community on Rathlin Island that created it. Future Island–Island demonstrates how design research can move beyond visioning to deliver real green transition infrastructure, policy and enterprise.