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Future Island-Island is an AHRC funded project that brings together community members, academics, and practitioners to co-create design-led research for a greener, more sustainable Northern Ireland economy.

Through the lens of Rathlin, Northern Ireland's only populated offshore island, we’re exploring innovative design and digital technologies to valorise waste as a commodity, develop sustainable tourism practices, and envision new possibilities for education and policy-making that will benefit everyone.

The green transition is a global movement away from a carbon-based economy towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future. Future Island-Island is a collaborative design ecosystem dedicated to accelerating this transition locally, with the ambition to scale its impact globally.

Delivered through five work packages, our research brings together citizens and subject experts to explore ways island communities can improve waste practices, apply new technologies, and develop innovative approaches to tourism and heritage in the face of environmental challenges.

Future Island-Island is one of four UK Green Transition Ecosystems, each funded up to £4.625m and part of the flagship funding strand of the £25M AHRC Future Observatory: Design the Green Transition programme (AH/Y003780/1).