Future Island - Island
Future Island-Island is an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded, design-led research project for the green transition that brings together communities, academics, and practitioners to co-create sustainable solutions.
CHARTS will be involved in phase two of Future Island - Islands, a project which focuses on creating sustainable solutions for Northern Ireland and sharing and expanding these ideas to other rural and coastal regions in Ireland, Scotland, and the Nordic islands through knowledge exchange, co-design, and community engagement. CHARTS is one of the six new co-investigator organisations alongside Rathlin Stickybeak, Hub Games, NAARCA, VOID Art Centre and Future Ready Lab.
From 2026 to 2028, CHARTS will deliver a series of events and workshops focused on knowledge exchange in partnership with the School of Innovation and Technology at the Glasgow School of Art.
These will be based around three key themes:
Dream - Developing Revolutionary Eco-friendly Alternatives with Materials
DREAM focuses on rethinking waste as a resource and designing circular supply chains that make sense for island contexts. At its heart is the shared ambition to co-develop a ‘Waste-Free Island’ strategy for Rathlin, creating a model that can be adapted and replicated in other places. It links material innovation, community participation and policy change to reimagine how waste is managed and valued. Building on local work such as Beach Clean 2.0 and Rathlin Wool, DREAM explores how place-based materials, repair cultures and small-scale production can nurture regenerative economies and more sustainable relationships with island life.
Greenlink - Digital Connectivity Across Lighthouse and Coastal Locations
GreenLink explores how digital technologies can strengthen connection, learning and collaboration across remote coastal and island networks. Through initiatives such as AR/VR world-building, immersive heritage games, and educational toolkits on ocean plastics, this theme connects digital innovation with environmental awareness and cultural participation. It seeks to expand inclusion in digital R&D, link Celtic and Nordic coastal communities, and create new forms of storytelling, education and green skills.
The East Light - A Creativity-Led Strategy for a Sustainable Knowledge Economy
The East Light theme focuses on co-developing Rathlin’s East Lighthouse site as a community-led hub for creativity, sustainability and enterprise. Building on the story-driven demonstrators from Phase 1 – Beach Clean 2.0 to repair culture, oral histories to immersive heritage experiences and creative residencies, this phase will explore how rural heritage sites can act as beacons for local enterprise, sustainable tourism and knowledge exchange. It aims to bring together design, skills development and entrepreneurship to support Rathlin as it continues to connect with wider green-transition networks across the island of Ireland, Scotland and beyond.
Future Island-Island is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded and is a collaborative project led by Ulster University, with Queen's University, The Glasgow School of Art, and University of the Arts London.