UPEI’s Island Studies program well represented at international islands-related conferences

Representatives of UPEI’s Island Studies program recently exchanged ideas, expertise, and research with delegates attending islands-related conferences in Ireland and Indonesia.

After a four-year hiatus, the normally biennial North Atlantic Forum is back on track. This year’s forum—the 13th—was held at the Atlantic Technological University in Letterfrack, Connemara, Ireland, from June 18–21.

With the theme “Sustainable Livelihoods: Regenerating Integrated Development through Innovative Communities,” the conference brought together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from all around the North Atlantic for four days of keynote speeches, presentations, panels, community tours, and excellent conversation around the idea of making rural and island communities more sustainable. The formal host partners were Connemara West and Atlantic Technological University. Funding came from donors as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). 

UPEI’s Island Studies program was well represented with presentations from MAIS students Eliza MacLauchlan, with Ryan MacRae, Cooper Institute, and Christine Miller, with MAIS alumna Siobhan Doyle, PEI Energy Corporation; Dr. Nick Mercer, assistant professor, Island Studies/Environmental Studies; and Dr. Laurie Brinklow, assistant professor, MAIS coordinator, and chair of the Institute of Island Studies (IIS). Others included MAIS adjunct professors Dr. Lynda Harling Stalker, St. Francis Xaver University; Dr. Andrew Jennings, University of the Highlands and Islands; and Dr. Ryan Gibson, University of Guelph. Along with Dr. Brinklow, the conference organizing committee included Dr. Gibson and Sheila Downer, of Labrador Solutions, both of whom are members of the IIS Advisory Committee.

Drs. Brinklow and Jennings took the opportunity to launch their co-edited collection, The Bridge Effect: Critical Reflections in the Age of Technological Solutionism (Island Studies Press, 2024), to a receptive audience. Dr. Brinklow was also invited to speak about the Forum’s beginning in 1998 when the first conference was hosted by the IIS.

After the North Atlantic Forum, Dr. Brinklow travelled from Connemara to Lombok, Indonesia, to attend the International Small Islands Studies Association’s (ISISA) “Islands of the World XIX” conference, which took place from June 25–29. Under the banner “Islands and Resilience: Global Opportunities,” the conference brought together scholars from islands across the globe to share stories of resilience and hope with over 120 presentations, several keynote addresses and panel discussions, and three field excursions to a few of Lombok’s small islands or “gilis.” The conference was co-hosted by Mataram University and the Center for Coastal and Marine Resources Studies at IPB University, an agricultural university based in Bogor, Indonesia. Dr. Luky Adrianto, a professor at IPB University, served as chair. 

“This was an incredible opportunity to bring an Island Studies theoretical framework to the world’s largest archipelago, putting words to islanders’ lived experiences through the idea of thinking with islands,” said Dr. Brinklow, president of ISISA. “It was an honour to place the Institute of Island Studies and UPEI on a global stage as part of the opening and closing ceremonies. Imagine my surprise when I looked out the bus window and saw my face on a billboard!

For Dr. Brinklow, the conference brought back fond memories of when the Institute of Island Studies hosted the Islands of the World VII conference at UPEI in 2000.

In addition to bringing greetings on behalf of ISISA, Dr. Brinklow presented a talk entitled “A Vital Conversation: How well-being and islandness can prepare us for ‘the next big one’ on Prince Edward Island,” based on the Institute’s work, led by Dr. Phil Davison, on well-being, population retention, and climate change. Andrew Halliday, MAIS adjunct professor and PhD student at the University of New Brunswick, presented his PhD research in a paper titled “The Council of Atlantic Premiers and the Atlantic Bubble: Institutionalism, governance, and policy change in Atlantic Canada’s ‘COVID-archipelago’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” He also gave a talk titled “Content analysis of Canadian media reporting of September 2022’s Hurricane Fiona in Prince Edward Island, Canada,” based on research funded by a UPEI internal research grant with Dr. Brinklow as co-principal investigator.

Dr. Brinklow also chaired ISISA’s annual general meeting, with over 100 people in attendance. At the meeting, Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino was named an Honorary Life Member for exemplary service to the organization. He joins Dr. Peter Meincke, former president of UPEI; the late Dr. Grant McCall, University of Sydney; and Dr. Huei-Min Tsai, National Taiwan Normal University, in sharing this special designation. Congratulations, Dr. Baldacchino!

“We owe a debt of gratitude to ISISA for bringing together so many island scholars together in this way,” said Dr. Brinklow, thanking local organizers and ISISA executive members who helped with planning the conference. “I was especially pleased to see so many scholars thinking with islands as they engaged with the themes of sustainability, culture, the environment, and governance. Islanders are known for creative thinking and innovation—and they truly shone over the five days of the conference.”

The 20th Islands of the World Conference will be hosted by the Institution for Marine and Island Cultures, Mokpo National University, on the island of Shinan, South Korea, in June 2026.