Building an Entrepreneurial Future for Scotland’s Islands
The Islands Entrepreneurship Network is an initiative recently established by RGU to drive inclusive innovation across Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. Hear from Naomi Macdonald, Programme Manager, about why she joined the team and what she hopes to accomplish.
My background has been primarily in the third sector, working initially in social care as a Substance Misuse Coordinator for a Children and Families programme across the Western Isles, and then latterly in youth work as the Lead for the Young Islanders Network.
Through these projects, I have been involved not just in the direct delivery of work with young people and their families, but also in the shaping of new programmes and building new teams across island geographies. I have also been responsible for supporting the representatives from our island communities to have their voices heard and to influence change for their futures with key local and national decision makers.
I was attracted to this role and the programme due to the fact that it is shaped to improve the quality of life and opportunities for islanders. I am very passionate about our island communities and being part of the solutions and safeguarding of our cultures, identity and viability. This programme is exciting as it will support islanders to showcase their innovation, resilience and resourcefulness and will contribute to a thriving island economy. We have so many interesting and exciting initiatives stemming from the islands and so much talent which, through this programme, we can amplify and shine a light on nationally and hopefully internationally too.
I have seen the benefit of bringing likeminded people together from across the island communities as part of a network and I look forward to seeing new relationships grow and collaboration bring new ideas and solutions to the markets for the islands by the islands.
The first few weeks in the role have been really great; we have formed our new team with our Programme Coordinators Kirsteen in Orkney and Maria in Shetland. Kirsteen and Maria are already known to many colleagues across RGU having both been previously involved in various projects. It is great to have such a skilled and diverse team, each bringing so much knowledge and experience and with a strong island connection to this new project.
We are also fortunate to have Moira based at RGU who supports our admin needs and Chris who is supporting and guiding us from the fantastic EIG team and wider team colleagues across RGU.
We have been busy mapping, networking and creating a presence over the past couple of months, while also working with course facilitators to shape the content of the courses for Mums in Business and Creative Entrepreneurship. We are excited to have dates in the diary for the first two programmes as well as for our first Innovation Day. The inaugural Innovation Day will take place in Shetland and will bring together key decision makers, members of the community and local entrepreneurs to get to task on identifying innovative solutions to their island's specifically identified theme. We will also be hosting some exciting Masterclasses, do keep an eye out for more information on these as they develop.
Looking ahead beyond 2025, we will be delivering a new Seniors (60+) programme and a Freelance Academy across the islands. There will also be an island cohort invited to participate in the well established Start Up Accelerator and we hope to be able to amplify the island participants in islands showcase in the Spring.
The Islands Entrepreneurial Network is funded by the Islands Deal over 3.5 years, and we anticipate that each year will be jam packed with activity and opportunity. We are hopeful that we will create a positive legacy for the Islands Deal, the islands entrepreneurs and RGU over this time and look forward to building a new community through the network.
