NEWS: Dr. Jean Mitchell named UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (January 20, 2022)

Dr. Katherine Gottschall-Pass, interim vice-president academic and research at UPEI, has announced the appointment of Dr. Jean Mitchell as the next UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability at the University. Dr. Mitchell is an associate professor of anthropology at UPEI with extensive research and project experience in Indonesia, India, and the South Pacific nations of Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. In the role as UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, Dr. Mitchell will take a broad perspective on small islands’ sustainability across the intersecting socio-economic, cultural, aesthetic, and environmental domains. Among other things, she will serve as an effective conduit for transferring innovative ideas; develop connections and collaborations; and contribute to research on small islands and the training of the next generation of island studies scholars and practitioners. The long-term mission of the UNESCO Chair at UPEI is to contribute to achieving the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This has been a UNESCO priority since the articulation of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000. This priority was also extended to Sub-National Island Jurisdictions. The UNESCO chair is hosted by the Institute of Island Studies (IIS). Established in 1985, the IIS is a research and public policy institute based at the University of Prince Edward Island focusing on the culture, environment, and economy of small islands around the world, with emphasis on Prince Edward Island. Drs. Jim Randall and Godfrey Baldacchino were named co-chairs in 2016, and Dr. Randall took on the role of sole chair until his retirement in 2021. Details on the UNESCO Chair’s work to date can be found at islandstudies.com.

Media contact:
Bren Simmers Island Studies Press
902-566-0386
ispstaff@upei.ca


Island Lecture Series: Arts and Climate Adaptation – Ilse van Dijke

ISLAND LECTURE SERIES | JANUARY 2022
Island Lecture Series: Arts and Climate Adaptation:
Ilse van Dijke
Tuesday, Jan 18, 2022 · 1:00pm – 2:00pm AST (UTC-4)
Watch video

(Hosted by the Institute of Island Studies · Jan 18, 2022)
In the first installment of the 2022 Island Lecture series, Ilse van Dijk presents the findings of the research she conducted as an intern with Island Studies and the School of Climate Change and Adaptation at UPEI. The research was funded by the Climate Sense project. In her research project, Ilse aimed to identify possibilities for the integration of artistic processes into climate change adaptation policies on Prince Edward Island.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

Ilse van Dike is currently a research master’s student at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She is following a specialization in islands and sustainability, with a particular focus on the theme of culture and climate change adaptation. Ilse recently completed a research internship with Dr. Laurie Brinklow from Island Studies and Ross Dwyer from the School of Climate Change and Adaptation. She holds a masters’ degree in human ecology from Lund University in Sweden, and a bachelors’ degree in cultural anthropology and development studies from Radboud University in the Netherlands.

Report: Two-year Timeline of COVID-19 Pandemic Impacting Islands Worldwide

From January 2020, the Global Islands Network (GIN) website2 began to source and feature articles on how COVID-19 was having disparate consequences upon islands worldwide. Over the next two years 1100 articles were posted on the GIN News Desk covering some 150 different countries, territories or local jurisdictions. All these are individually named and listed, together with regions (i.e. Caribbean, Pacific, SIDS), on the contents page so that readers can quickly identify them and their associated articles. In addition, the main purpose of this report is merely to act as a resource enabling all those who are interested to undertake further research. As you would expect, the health and economic impacts of COVID-19 upon islands predominate throughout this series of press articles. Whilst the repercussions for island tourism are manifest there are ten additional thematic areas listing articles covering multiple other topics that are specific to islands.

Read the report | Download PDF

Island Lecture Series – January 2022: “Art and Climate Change Adaptation” with Ilse Van Dijk

banner with photo of Ilse van Dijk and text saying: Island Lecture Series
Art and Climate Change Adaptation with Ilse van Dijk
Hosted by the Institute of Island Studies @ UPEI

ISLAND LECTURE SERIES | JANUARY 2022
Art and Climate Change Adaptation
Ilse Van Dijk
Tuesday, January 18th, 2021 · 1pm AST (UTC-4)
Watch video

In the first installment of the 2022 Island Lecture series, Ilse van Dijk will present the findings of the research she conducted as a research intern with Island Studies at UPEI and the School of Climate Change and Adaptation. In her research project, Ilse aimed to identify possibilities for the integration of artistic processes into climate change adaptation policies on Prince Edward Island.

Climate change and climate change adaptation are increasingly represented in the arts. Previous research has to some extent established that the resulting ‘climate art’ can perform a variety of functions, in addition to its artistic value, such as articulating difficult emotions and translating complex information. However, policymaking for climate change and adaptation does not utilize the potential of climate art. In her research project, Ilse developed a concept for the integration of artistic processes into adaptation policymaking on Prince Edward Island. The research is based on qualitative data, gathered through in-depth interviews with artists, cultural experts and climate change adaptation policymakers on Prince Edward Island.

Interested in attending? Email us at InstituteofIslandStudieUPEI@gmail.com to register!


ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

Ilse Van Dijk is currently a research master’s student at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She is following a specialization in islands and sustainability, with a particular focus on the theme of culture and climate change adaptation. IIlse recently completed a research internship with Dr. Laurie Brinklow from Island Studies and Ross Dwyer from the School of Climate Change and Adaptation. She holds a masters’ degree in human ecology from Lund University in Sweden, and a bachelors’ degree in cultural anthropology and development studies from Radboud University in the Netherlands.

Text over an ariel photo of a coast line reading: COVID-19 Island Insights Series

[New Publication] COVID-19 Island Insights Final Report now available!

The COVID-19 Island Insights Series is an initiative led by the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law & Governance (SCELG) and the Institute of Island Studies in collaboration with Island Innovation. The Series aims to bring together critical assessments of how specific islands around the world have performed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the extent to which their recovery plans are able to promote long term resilience and sustainability.

Text over an ariel photo of a coast line reading: COVID-19 Island Insights Series