If you’ve ever wondered how other island communities tackle big challenges—think climate change, tourism, and keeping young people from leaving—Outside In a new podcast might just have the answers. Produced by Small Island Big Ideas, this series takes listeners on a global journey, exploring innovative solutions that could inspire change on Aotea.
The podcast is led by Tim Higham, Sandy Burgham, and Bree Biederman. Higham describes Small Island Big Ideas as “an ongoing festival of conversations and events created to take Aotea Great Barrier Island, and possibly the world, forward.”
Each episode features a different island’s unique response to challenges, from Denmark’s Samsø Island, which became the world’s first renewable energy island, to Scotland’s Eigg, where locals took control of their future by buying back their land.
“We hope the series might provide inspiration for Aotea groups and individuals,” says Higham. “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.”
The Aotea / Great Barrier Local Board provided grant funding to support the project. “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.”
From tourism caps on Lord Howe Island to the digital revolution on Arranmore, Outside In explores how island communities rethink the status quo. In Haida Gwaii, Canada, indigenous leadership is driving efforts to restore the land and ensure visitors respect local ways of life. On Maui, Hawaii, the devastating fire in Lahaina has sparked a movement to rebuild with a deep connection to native Hawaiian knowledge and ecology.
Eigg, Scotland, is another standout story. After decades of substandard living conditions under absentee landowners, the islanders reclaimed their home and now govern themselves—generating their own renewable power and setting their own policies.
All episodes are available on the Small Island Big Ideas YouTube channel and on Spotify. Tune in and discover how islands around the world are shaping their futures—one idea at a time.
