How do we stem the flow of young people from the Isle of Wight? By nige.

So, how can we stop the steady leak of young people flowing out of the Isle of Wight Biosphere Reserve?

Looking at the data projections, if we let the trend continue unabated it seems the future for the Island is very grim indeed. After all an island without young people seems like a doomed place to me!

An idea emerging!

Over the years, our little consortium (Arc, The Common Space, Artecology and Brown’s Blue Tiki Cafe & Golf Course) has been busy putting our place in Sandown Bay under national and international spotlights. As a result it’s brilliant to be able to announce that we’ve been asked to export not just Artecology products, but also training and workshops based on our placemaking and eco-engineering specialisms. Recently a variety of organisations including HM Government of Gibraltar; a national charity working in the North East of England; and mainland universities, have all requested our specialist services. It’s all brilliant for us of course, but these services are all leading to opportunities predominantly for young people who live on the British mainland, and the European continent.

But what about the young folks who live here on the Isle of Wight you might ask!

In the last few weeks alone, we’ve welcomed representatives from Natural England, Project Seagrass, and Newcastle University to our HQ at Brown’s. They all came here to work with us to cook-up individual Isle of Wight based studies, eco-engineering research, and/or public engagement projects.

That’s fine, I hear you say, but where are the benefits to locals?

Well, this month, with our partners at Shademakers UK, we’ll welcome thousands of visitors to a free two day family science and arts festival called Hullabaloo.

Again though, you might be tempted to say; well that’s just a two day event, what about the rest of the calendar year?

So, here’s that idea!

I’ve started working up a plan for a ‘Centre for Flexible Learning and Bio-Innovation’ (working title!) based on our own cutting edge eco-engineering work and our unique ‘Shaping Better Places’ placemaking framework. The centre would be situated right here at our perfectly positioned head quarters in Sandown Bay. With so much off-island interest in this place and the work we do here, I think it’s high time we made a move towards scaling up our training, workshops and study offers so that they prioritise young people either coming to, or already living on, the Isle of Wight. As a World Biosphere Reserve sitting in one of the worlds best places for research and development relating to blue/green/grey climate change adaptation, the Isle of Wight would be crazy to miss an opportunity to lead the way with a globally important industry sector currently emerging in an around our UNESCO Biosphere designation zone.

Making our plan a reality would mean a small increase in the size of our facility here at Brown’s. This would allow us to better host both Island and mainland groups for training, workshops, as well short & long term academic studies. I’m certain that by working with the extraordinary natural resourses that our unique coastal location affords us, which for Arc and Artecology has already created so many opportunities, we can play a part in a new movement to keep young people here on the Isle of Wight, not because they’re stuck but because real ‘future ready’ Bio-Tech opportunities are happening here.

What a plan!…and all perfectly tuned with UNESCO Biosphere principles too!

Arc Biodiversity & Climate and it’s Research and Development department Artecology has been innovating by the sea at Brown’s for 10 years.

How does that sound?

The thing is, our little consortium can’t do this alone, we will need guidance, we need human resources and we need funding support to make this plan a reality.

If you think you have the skills, knowledge, expertise or connections to help make this plan happen, please let us know. If you are an organisation or university who thinks they would use or benefit from a centre like this, again please do let us know.

Timing is critical, there is simply no time to lose. Look at Island demographic data; no young people, no IW future.

We CAN turn this worrying trend around by creating world class opportunities here. Let’s make the Isle of Wight Biosphere a young person magnet, not a leaky drain!!