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Author: Fiona Middleton
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Making the decision to move back to the Isle of Wight halfway through my PhD was a difficult one. There was a strong feeling pulling me back and a wish to feel more grounded and connected to this weird and wonderful Island, partly as a medicine to the head-spinny theorising that a PhD can induce. But next to the joys that Island life offers are unavoidable difficulties for Islanders, including the serious challenges of coastal regeneration, creating and maintaining opportunities for young people, and general access to services.
A three-month placement at my local Cowes Town Council was a meaningful chance to learn about the inner workings of the Island’s regeneration strategy. The foundation of the placement was the Place Plan for Cowes and Northwood, co-created with residents and published by innovative Island-based environmental consultancy Arc in March 2021. The Place Plan painted a picture of the Cowes Peninsula and identified priorities for development, which Cowes and Northwood Town Councils and the IoW Area Regeneration programme wished to ‘touch the ground’ via the invitation of communityproposed projects in the area. The main task of the placement was to work with the Place Plan Advisory Group to co-design a proposal and decision-making framework for these projects, to be assessed against the content of the Place Plan and other pertinent reports, strategies and research.
Complementing the desk-based input to the framework, a transformative aspect of the placement was a series of meetings with local experts and practitioners who volunteer their time and knowledge towards positive change around the Island. Composing and discussing potential projects, sharing past experiences, unpacking dormant ideas, and adding nuggets of know-how into the pot, the community meetings brought the process to life and shaped the framework. The five final decision-making priorities of (1) health and wellbeing, (2) climate and the environment, (3) local heritage and sense of place, (4) opportunities for children and young people, and (5) accessibility and EDI each contain three measures chosen with Cowes and Northwood in mind, that will doubtless continue to shift as projects are realised.
The placement also gave me the chance to engage with Innovation Wight and its new hub Building 41, a much-needed friendly space for co-working and networking, open to anyone finding themselves on the Island and needing a place to meet or work.
The placement was a great surprise during my time at Southampton, and an experience I highly recommend. Not only has it opened my eyes to the passionate work around regeneration happening on the Island – and the trust, commitment and energy needed to realise it – but I’m returning to my PhD with a clearer mind, a more robust idea of how academia and local government work together, and new friends!
Many thanks to Ross Edmunds and John Nicholson for their inspiring supervision, to Yaryna, Hannah and the PPS team for supporting the placement, and to Sam and Jasmine for the Island inspiration
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