Future
Transnational Youth Exchange
Theme Lead: Jamie Allan Brown (Research Fellow)
Download Scotland Youth Application – Word Version
Download Barbados Youth Application – Word Version
Shared Island Stories considers the “future” primarily through a transformative transnational youth exchange between the island communities of the Isle of Harris in Scotland and the Caribbean island nation of Barbados.
This aspect of the project is seeing intensive workshops held in-community every three months in Scotland and Barbados exploring the role of community heritage in sustainability and an in-person physical exchange between the islands focused on Sustainable Development, shared heritage and history, as well as the maintenance and regeneration of biodiversity. The young people involved will become “Youth Ambassadors” for heritage and climate change in their respective schools, community groups, countries and internationally through our conference.
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
