Aotea-made podcast sheds light on unique islands

Publish Date : 17 Jan 2025
Tim Higham and Sandy Burgham hosting 'Outside In' podcast
Tim Higham and Sandy Burgham hosting 'Outside In'.

If you’re looking for your next podcast to listen to, buckle up because Outside In takes you to island communities all around the globe.

The podcast is created by Small Island Big Ideas, which co-curator Tim Higham describes as “an ongoing festival of conversations and events created to take Aotea Great Barrier Island, and possibly the world, forward”.

Outside In focuses on clever ways different motu have made improvements or adapted to challenges, with Tim Higham, Sandy Burgham and Bree Biederman interviewing innovators from each island.

“Each episode showcases a large-scale island transformation that was unique to that island as well as what we consider ‘smaller transferable ideas’ that could easily be adopted on Aotea,” says Tim.

“We hope the series might provide inspiration for Aotea groups and individuals.”

Aotea / Great Barrier Local Board supported this project with grant funding.

"Our grants programme is an opportunity for local groups and individuals to get their ideas off the ground,” says local board chair Izzy Fordham.

“We’re pleased we could help bring Outside In to life, and appreciate the work the team from Small Island, Big Ideas has gone to so that we can learn from other resourceful islands around the world.”

Here’s a quick rundown of the nine current episodes (with one more coming!) with links to listen on the Small Island, Big Ideas YouTube channel:

‘Collectivisation’ (Samsø Island, Denmark): Considered the world’s first renewable energy island (having moved off-grid and selling power back to the national grid). Community ownership started small scale with a community fridge, progressing to much larger things like a community-owned ferry.

‘Conservation-led Economy’ (Lord Howe Island, Australia): Tourism is capped at 400 beds at any one time. After encouraging visitors to weed out invasive weed species, ‘weeding holidays’ emerged as a tourist package which eventuated into Friends of Lord Howe Island as an important contributor to legacy.

‘Slow Tourism’ (Teshima Island, Japan): Sticky economy and ageing population became part of this island’s strategy - a movement to involve oldies in providing traditional home-stay experiences.

‘Diaspora’ (Arranmore Island, Ireland): Another ageing population that engaged with younger generations who’d moved off-island to lure them back with a state-of-the-art digital hub providing high-end office facilities. A digital transformation that collaborated with a corporate sponsor.

‘Integrated Quality’ (Fogo Island, Canada): Spearheaded by one island daughter with a singular high-end vision involving art and architecture, this transformation has spawned the Shorefast Trust which fosters and connects people and projects that are inclusive and sustainable.

‘Humility of Place’ (Maui, Hawaii): The unexpected phoenix rising from the ashes of the devastating fire that destroyed Lahaina, left one hundred dead, and decimated the tourist economy, was the emergence of native Hawaiian flora as the connective tissue of an island reinventing itself and reimagining the future based on deep traditional indigenous knowledge.

‘Self-determination’ (Eigg, Scotland): After suffering from substandard living conditions for decades due to being beholden to wealthy landowners who actually owned the island, the locals banded together and bought it back! They now make their own rules and their own power.

‘Indigenous Leadership’ (Haida Gwaii, Canada): The first nations people of Haida Gwaii push back against the colonising government to restore the island back to its former state, including principles of operating and living. Tourists must sign a pledge to adapt to these principles.

‘More Holocracy Than Bureaucracy’ (Palau, Oceania): A national marine sanctuary that works in cooperation with all locals who do the mahi and represent the natural resources that they are protecting.

All episodes are also available on Spotify.

Stay up to date

Sign up for Aotea / Great Barrier Local Board E-news and get monthly updates direct to your inbox.

Back to News