In October, Young Islanders Network Rep Liz joined the Community Knowledge Matters Gathering. She attended a participatory arts workshop exploring how creativity and metaphors can help people talk about research, power, relationships and the challenges of working together.
The session was part of a wider collaboration between Community Knowledge Matters, The Binks Hub and PhD researcher Helen Berry. It brought together community groups, researchers and grassroots voices to look at how research can be more open, creative and rooted in real life.
A big part of the workshop was about rethinking what “research” actually means. It is not just something that happens in universities or sits in long reports. Research can also come from conversations, lived experience, creative activities and the knowledge people already hold about their own lives and communities. That really connects with the work of Young Islanders Network. When young people share what life is like on their island, talk about what needs to change, take part in challenges, or shape ideas together, they are helping gather real evidence about what matters to young islanders. That insight can then be used to influence policy, services and decisions.
A piece of artwork was produced through the collaborative approach followed by the partnership. The piece is written by many voices, expressed through both textual and visual content, and reflects on co-production in general as well as well as in relation to this piece of work.
From Participatory Arts and Co-production: Visual Minutes [Illustration], by Community Knowledge Matters, the Binks Hub and Helen Berry, 2025. Illustrated by Jean Capon.
Find out more HERE
YIN Rep Liz said the creative approach made big topics feel easier to explore:
“I’ve never been to something like that before. I really liked the workshop, but I am quite creative! It’s a good way to start exploring really big subjects but taking out the heavy stuff. We used collages and images in magazines as metaphors. It lets you say what you feel without tripping over words or sharing things that are personal. That’s an issues living on a small island to say what you want to say without offending people.”
Liz also took part as a panel member on a decision-makers panel, making sure youth voice was part of the conversation about how decisions are made and whose knowledge counts.
She said:
“I was nervous being asked to be a panel member and it was live streamed! I don’t know all the answers, but I can just say what it’s like being me, young and living on an island.”
During the event, Liz met members from OPEN Shetland and learned more about their youth-led model, including their youth board, peer-led research and mentoring. Their approach puts young people at the centre, leading work around the issues that matter most to them.
For Liz, one of the biggest parts of the experience was feeling genuinely listened to:
“The room was really engaged in what I was saying, like genuinely interested in my view, what I do on Stronsay, and the things I do with YIN. The best part was the massive support from everyone. In a room filled with adults, I felt really valued. I wasn’t the token young person. People really wanted to hear what I had to say and spoke to me after the panel interview.”
Liz added that the support continued beyond the panel:
“A lot of people spoke to me at the ceilidh in the evening and said I spoke really well in front of everyone. It was a big hall and loads of people looking at me. They were surprised it was my first time standing up doing something like this.”
This experience is at the heart of YIN. Young islanders being part of national conversations, sharing their experiences, and helping shape change instead of waiting for decisions to be made about them.
“That was definitely the best part proving young people can be in adult environments. Everyone embraced different views and supported you, and it showed that you really do have a voice as a young person and influence. A lot of the time we are involved in youth participation events or forums organised by adults but not really listened to. This was brilliant because people wanted to follow up with more questions for me. They didn’t see me as just 14 but that my experience mattered and spoke to me like any of the other adults attending the conference. I loved the way it was organised too. Kind of informal, being able to chat and take part in activities, not being talked at and totally fine not understanding everything that was spoken about. It was good hearing adults also saying the same and that we don’t always have the answers or know wat to do but we figured it out together”
Read more about the workshop and see the amazing graphic minute through The Binks Hub website.