The Institute of Island Studies conducts local programming such as public forums and guest speakers on contemporary issues in Island life. Our work also includes research, often in partnership with community organizations, various UPEI faculty members, and academics from other institutions; as well as conferences and special events. We also undertake international networking and research collaborations.

Our most recent activities are listed below. Click to see our upcoming Events, Current Projects, Past Projects and Conferences.

Irene Novaczek and Josh MacFadyen Present at the 2010 Education Research Forum

Every year, the Faculty of Education at UPEI celebrates and shares the recent research activity of faculty members and graduate students.  Irene Novaczek presented We are People of the Island  And introduction to the community-university research programme of the Scoial Economy Research Network, with a focus on the work of IIS in costal communities of PEI in Chiloe, Chile. The presentation described the lessons learned working with the social economy organizations in PEI and Chiloe, and review some key findings concerning Indigenious Knowledge of seaweeds as foods and medicines; the importance of social and cultural micro enterprise in chiloe; and the role of PEI women and chiloe youth in fisheries and marine resource management.

Josh MacFadyen presented  Mapping Social and cultural Values in the Costal Zone.  A description of ongoing research of IIS in colloboration with Covehead-Brakley community leaders, which uses GIS tools to map place-based values in the costal zone, in preparation for decision making around future clmat change adaptation.

Photos and more details from the conference can be found at the CER blog.

Change and its impacts on family farming

Lunch and Learn presented Monday April 12, 2010 

Visiting scholar Dr Linda Price, Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Dr. Price gave a well recieved talk on the challenges and issues faced by farmers stuggling with the loss or future of family farms and the roll of state funded support organizations in both Canada and the UK.

Dr Price is writing a book on family farming, belonging, stress and change which will feature stories from Prince Edward Island. Her presentation will review her most recent research on rural support networks. She is particularly interested in the changing nature of rural communities and how family farm individuals are dealing with this change.

On March 16th, 2010, the University of Prince Edward Island's Institute of Island Studies and Shawn Murphy, MP for Charlottetown, co-hosted "Challenges and Opportunities: The Next 25 Years" - a public event to engage Islanders to join in the process of planning for the Island's future.

A panel of local and regional speakers identified current strengths and future opportunities for building a more vibrant, progressive and sustainable Island society. Forum participants then had an opportunity to work in small groups, discuss these themes and report back with key ideas that will help to move the Island forward.

This group is a forum for further conversation about the themes discussed at the March 16th event, as well as topics that were not covered during the event.

For more information, please contact:

Dianne Porter at (902) 892-4923  (902) 892-4923   or porter@pei.sympatico.ca

Shawn Murphy's office at (902) 566-7772

(902) 566-7772  or murphs1a@parl.gc.ca

The Institute of Island Studies at

(902) 566-0386      

(902) 566-0386  

Facebook Group:

"Challenges and Opportunities: The Next 25 Years"

Socio-cultural Values Mapping Research

January 2010

The Institute of Island Studies is working on an exciting project that analyses the socio-cultural landscape values of full-time and seasonal residents in the central north shore area. Over two hundred surveys, including colour maps and sticker dots, have been distributed to coastal residents who are asked to identify which aspects of their landscapes are most important to them. The values include aesthetic, economic, recreational, historical, and a range of others landscape values. The results will be processed in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and used in a report that studies the usefulness of this method for understanding how coastal residents value the north shore area and how they respond to changes in the landscape.

The mapping project, supported by funding from Environment Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Oceans Branch, intends to generate socio-cultural data to augment well-known physical, biological and economic information about coastal areas.  Several groups have collaborated with the Institute of Island Studies to help develop the survey, including the Resource Inventory and Modelling section of the Provincial Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry, as well as the North Shore Municipality, and the Friends of the Covehead and Brackley Bays watershed group. This project will demonstrate the landscape values of a representative sample in this part of the north shore, and it will also provide useable data for local community leaders and policy makers. Local values are important to land use planning and when preparing to cope with changing conditions, for example climate change impacts.  Because this pilot study may lead to Island-wide use of this method, the results of this project are also important to the well-being and wise planning of all Island communities.

For more information, please visit the Socio-cultural values mapping website, and direct any questions to Dr. Irene Novaczek, Director of the Institute, by phone, 566-0386 or email (inovaczek_at_upei.ca).

Institute of Island Studies submits to the Commission on Nitrates in Groundwater Charlottetown, PEI, May 2008

Why the IIS is making this submission?

The mandate of the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island is to improve the quality of life of Islanders through practical application of the scholarly discipline of Island Studies and in particular, to:

• Encourage and facilitate the greater understanding of Prince Edward Island: its history, culture, governance, ecology and economy
• Promote the development of progressive public policy
• Facilitate and support global comparative island studies through which PEI can learn from the experience of other small islands
• Act as a bridge between UPEI and the wider Island Community

In meeting this mandate, the Institute often works with the volunteer members of its Advisory Council which includes an array of community representatives as well as UPEI faculty and students. Where there seems to be a gap in either publicly available information or opportunities to discuss public policy issues, the Institute may develop public meetings, a forum with invited resource persons or a conference. Where the government has taken the lead, the Institute works with community and university partners to develop evidence-based input to government forums and commissions. Given its limited resources, there are times when the IIS cannot provide input; however, fundamental issues of social security, natural resource management, heritage and governance receive high priority. Water quality is an issue that cuts across all of the above.

The water that is in circulation on the surface and in the shallow soils of the planet was deposited when the earth first formed, billions of years ago, and it is all the water we will ever have. There are no new sources of water; it does not rain down from outer space, nor can it spring anew from any natural process on earth, although it cycles continually between living and non-living parts of the biosphere.

Water resources on small islands are acknowledged to be particularly limited and vulnerable in this era of climate change and environmental degradation. Agricultural and industrial practices and waste management are always critical issues on small islands because they lack space where pollutants can be safely broken down or stored. Almost all of the predicted changes in climate will affect the fresh water resources of islands, whether it be through salt water intrusion or changing patterns of storms, rainfall and evaporation. PEI’s friable bedrock, sandy soils and small size means that we will be hard hit by climate change impacts.

Institute of Island Studies submits input to provincial Island Heritage Study

In 2007, in response to public concerns, the IIS undertook a series of public consultations on PEI's museums system. We received a Heritage Award for this work in February 2008; the citation referred to last year's public meetings on the museum system. The provincial government went on to do its own study and public consultation in 2008, for which a report was prepared by IIS Director Dr. Irene Novaczek, working with the IIS Advisory Council's Natural & Cultural Heritage Committee. In addition to the Heritage Award, we received congratulatory letters from the Mayor of Charlottetown, the Minister of Heritage, and the Premier.