Creative Rathlin | Connecting Islands

Creative Fellow: Johnny Mitchell
Co-Investigator: Dr Wes Forsythe

This Creative Fellowship addresses the challenge by using images to highlight the importance of marine traffic to an island. Rathlin Island relies on ferry transport for essential travel, tourism, and trade, yet current operations contribute significantly to local carbon emissions. There is limited awareness of alternative, sustainable ferry solutions and little accessible, visual documentation of the ferry’s environmental impact or the community’s relationship with maritime life.

Creative Fellow: Charlotte Bonsanquet
Co-Investigators: Dr Emma Campbell & Johnny Weir

Rathlin Island’s organic waste from homes and gardens goes into brown bins, collected by a lorry from Ballycastle. Soil, often peat-based and bought in plastic, raises sustainability, biosecurity, and rat control concerns. This fellowship explores links between waste handling, imported soil, and the aspiration for the island’s rat-free status.

Creative Fellow: Stewart Geddes
Co-Investigator: Dr Edwar Calderón

This fellowship addressed the challenge of working with unfamiliar materials collected on Rathlin Island, adapting an instrument-making workshop to their characteristics. The aim was to create a meaningful cultural exchange that used music, play, and creativity to foster environmental reflection, community pride, and cross-cultural connection despite linguistic and cultural differences.

Creative Fellow: Sarah Hardy
Co-Investigator: Dr Susann Power

This fellowship explored solastalgia, the grief caused by environmental loss and how such emotions can inspire positive action. Through activities like beach cleans and creative practices, the project supported health and wellbeing while helping participants reconnect with nature, fostering a renewed sense of ecological identity and care for the environment.

Creative Fellows: Ann Henderson, Vanya Lambrecht Ward (Artists) Hazel Watson (Naturalist)
Co-Investigator: Prof Justin Magee

The Fungal Learning project creatively explores the world of fungi and fungal potential to remediate pollution and break down waste, including plastic. Using collaborative, experimental practices to investigate this vast kingdom as well as the ethics of our interactions with fungi, this research approach highlights the complexity of waste solutions and fungal behaviours.

Creative Fellow: Patricia Harbinson
Co-Investigator: Prof Alison Gault

How can Rathlin-based micro knitwear business, Hooked on Rathlin evolve alongside the Future Island–Island waste wool project to support a green transition? This research develops Rathlin-inspired knitwear designs and colourways in 100% local wool, celebrating heritage while advancing sustainable production and contributing to circular, place-based economies.