Design Fellowships 2025

Design Fellows: Mitch Conlon & McAllister-Colacio
Co-Investigator: Dr Patrick Dunlop

The Keelrod project explores alternative sustainable energy systems that are appropriately scaled for island contexts. Inspired by the DIY ethos of kite energy models, it aims to make climate-resilient practices visible and tangible through creative collaboration and locally grounded design.

Design Fellow: Cathal Crumley
Co-Investigator: Dr Rebecca McConnell

The island of Ireland faces a creative ‘brain drain’ and climate adaptation challenges. There is a critical need for public engagement frameworks that make future climate and cultural scenarios tangible, accessible, and inclusive to foster societal dialogue and decision-making.

Design Fellow: Rachel Delargy
Co-Investigator: Dr Sean Cullen

Currently most building processes use energy intensive, single-use materials. Is there an alternative available? Locally sourced stone cut into standardised units would in theory offer a reduction in carbon emissions essentially because its production does not require the application of heat derived from fossil fuels.

Design Fellows: Marianne Green & Lynn Finnegan
Co-Investigators: Dr Jessica Bates & Sarah Dargie

This Design Fellowship, The Story of Rathlin Wool, uses storytelling to highlight the regenerative potential of wool, rooted in Rathlin Island’s unique cultural and ecological landscape. Through an illustrated book, it explores vital connections between people, land, and sustainability – inviting reflections on waste, identity, and the need for community-led ecological renewal.

Design Fellow: Karishma Kusurkur
Co-Investigator: Gillian Colhoun

Many micro-businesses in Northern Ireland are eager to adopt regenerative and sustainable practices but lack access to tailored knowledge, practical guidance, or peer-led examples. Traditional support models often miss the nuance, rhythm, and lived realities of these hyper-local, time-poor, smaller-scale creative enterprises.

Design Fellows: Domenica Landin & FutureEverything
Co-Investigator: Prof Brian Dixon

How might co-design support a cultural organisation in developing a governance model that brings nature onto the board? This project supports FutureEverything’s ambition to grant nature a formal voice, and voting rights, within its governance. The aim is to align decision-making with principles of planetary stewardship and more-than-human justice, and to translate these into everyday practices.

Design Fellow: Dr Pamela Whitaker
Co-Investigator: Dr Susann Power

In supporting the professional development of the craft and artist community on Rathlin Island, this fellowship sought to promote creative enterprise through design of a creative tourism package, web platform, and printed marketing materials. The fellowship is aimed at advancing sustainable tourism, local community stewardship and visitor engagement.

Design Fellow: Katherine Drury
Co-Investigator: Prof Alison Gault

Wool across the UK and Ireland is so undervalued that it is often uneconomical to remove from farms, particularly on Rathlin Island. At the same time, there are few sustainable, natural-fibre rope alternatives available for seaweed farming.