Shetland Innovation Challenge Day sparks creativity and collaboration

Shetland’s first Innovation Challenge Day, as part of the Islands Entrepreneurial Network (IEN) led by RGU, brought together 19 participants from across the community on 7 October, with local businesses, community groups and public sector partners teaming up to tackle real challenges facing the islands. 

The network was launched in 2025 as part of the TalEntEd Islands Programme, supported by up to £5.9 million of joint investment from the Scottish Government and the UK Government through the Islands Growth Deal. 

RGU is one of three leading universities that have united to deliver tailored work-based learning, entrepreneurship pathways and innovation-commercialisation grants to spark sustainable economic growth.

Hosted at Mareel, the UK's most northerly music, cinema and creative industries centre, the full-day event invited participants to form diverse teams and experiment with simple innovation techniques to turn problems into practical opportunities. The day culminated in energetic pitches in which teams presented their solutions to a panel of judges. 

Maria Bell, IEN Programme Coordinator, Shetland, said: “The Innovation Challenge Day was about giving people the space and tools to think differently. It was inspiring to see so many fresh ideas - and the passion for creating positive change in Shetland really shone through.” 

Ideas developed on the day ranged from supporting more micro creative businesses to community-generated electricity, demonstrating the breadth of creativity and ambition across the islands. 

The event was supported by mentors and judges volunteering their expertise to guide teams. 

Martin Tregonning of Tregonning & Co, reflected: "The challenges the groups worked on were interesting in themselves, but I really benefited from the tools which were given to help us address those challenges, and which I have taken away and can be applied to any situation." 

The organisers now hope to build on the momentum by exploring how some of the ideas could be taken further, and by planning future innovation-focused activities. 

Naomi MacDonald, IEN Programme Manager, added “It was a day filled with energetic, collaborative and solution-focused discussion. Innovation is about people coming together to solve challenges - and Shetland has shown it has ideas in abundance and an appetite to take these ideas into action.”