Future
Transnational Youth Exchange
Theme Lead: Jamie Allan Brown (Research Fellow)
The Shared Island Stories considers the “future” primarily through a transnational youth exchange brings together young people from Scotland’s Outer Hebrides and Barbados to explore the connections between cultural heritage, sustainability, and climate action. Designed as an immersive and collaborative programme, the exchange fosters meaningful dialogue between island youth, heritage professionals, and community leaders, encouraging participants to reflect on shared histories, contemporary challenges, and future solutions. Through hands-on workshops, site visits, and intergenerational knowledge-sharing, young people engage with topics such as community ownership, traditional ecological practices, and the role of museums in addressing the climate emergency.
By participating in this exchange, young people from both islands have developed skills in storytelling, heritage interpretation, and environmental advocacy, positioning themselves as active agents of change within their communities. From exploring the impact of coastal erosion in Scotland to contributing to climate resilience initiatives in Barbados, the programme highlights the power of youth-led action in shaping sustainable futures. The exchange also strengthens transatlantic collaborations, ensuring that the voices and perspectives of young people are central to discussions on decolonisation, climate justice, and the role of cultural heritage in building resilient island communities.
Transnational youth exchange map
The programme will involve a series of intensive workshops led by Research Fellow, Jamie Allan Brown, on the topic of the Sustainable Development Goals and island heritage communities. Enabling the communities in their past-and-future-making projects, strong emphasis will be placed on intergenerational transmission of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, especially as it relates to local plants and wildlife (working with local biodiversity), language and place names, and living off the land and the sea, especially community and medicinal gardens.
Translated from Scottish Gaelic, Talla na Mara means the Centre by the sea.
The young people will be empowered to develop their code of conduct and rules whilst being part of this programme. When participating in the physical exchange, young people will seek to be discreet and sensitive in each community and demonstrate respect for the way of life of those who accept them into their communities. The young people and project researchers have much to learn from each other’s cultures. As a representative of your community and a guest in theirs, it is important to understand local traditions and behaviours and be sensitive to them at all times.
The young people will, in addition, consider similarities and differences in landscape, food and other cultural influences between Scotland and the Caribbean in collaboration with the Barbados Museum and Historical Society youth programmes. Traditional boat-building, shared heritage and history, sustainable farming, land management and fishing techniques are particularly relevant to the youth exchange.
Local Community Collaborators:
Barbados Museum & Historical Society
